The Office of Minority HealthUpdate

Linda Thomas, M.Ed. Director

Vision

To work in partnership with Oklahoma’s racial and ethnic communities to improve health outcomes.

Mission

To improve the health of racial and ethnic populations through the development of health policies and programs that help to eliminate health disparities.

Staff

Linda Thomas, Director

Dedric Anderson, Program Coordinator

Shu-Chuan Lin, Epidemiologist

Sarahi Dambold, Interpreter

Jose Munoz, Interpreter

Goals and Objectives

Increase racial and ethnic minority health access through:

Policy Development and Systems change

Workforce Development

Health related campaigns

2008Continuation Projects

Oklahoma Plan to Improve Minority Health

Violence Prevention Programs

Regional Strategic Planning Conversations

Governor’s Task Force on Elimination of Health Disparities

Medical Interpreter Trainings

Medical Interpreter Trainings

Provides an overview of the purpose and roles of a medical interpreter

Practical review of code of ethics Standards of practice Skills building role plays

Oklahoma 2008 Regional Trainings Beaver; November 13-14

Tahlequah; December 4-5Lawton; January 15-16

Oklahoma City; March 16-17Oklahoma City; February 2-3

Oklahoma 2009 Regional Trainings Enid; August 17-18

Lawton; August 31-September 1McAlester; August 24-25

2009 Initiatives

February 2009Community Chat, Tulsa

A series of four meetings, serving as a forum where the community can voice racial and ethnic minority health concerns and develop local solutions to local problems. Fifty people attended the initial event in February 2009. Upcoming meetings TBA.

Regional Minority Health Councils(Located in Northwest, Northeast,

Southwest, and Southeast Oklahoma)

Purpose: To help prioritize concerns through regional minority councils.

Activities: Gather information, Assess available resources, Conduct a gap analysis, and Through a collaborative process address information obtained through the process.

2009OSDH Program Area Assessment

A Needs Assessment was conducted with Service Chiefs and/or key staff, to determine service areas who needed assistance with racial and ethnic minority populations.

Criteria

Programs where racial and ethnic minorities were disproportionally affected or programs that needed assistance accessing their target group were selected.

Considerations: Staffing, Access to the population, and Cultural competency and understanding

of the cultural norms and values.

Participating Services

Maternal & Child HealthImmunization

Chronic DiseaseFamily Support

Disease & Prevention ServiceWIC Services

Health Equity & Resource OpportunityTobacco Prevention

HIV/STD ServiceTraining Education and Development

2009Maternal & Child Health

Initiative

Infant MortalityImproving Infant Outcomes Campaign

African American Workgroup

Members are clergy, elected officials, and leaders within the African- American community.

Members meet to discuss infant mortality topics and to strategize and explore options to help their community address infant mortality issues.

April 2009“A Healthy Baby Begins with Me”

Baby Shower

Over 200 high-risk females and males attended the event.

The baby shower was a non-traditional approach to help expectant parents, grand-parents and prospective parents (women and men) respond to infant mortality and well-baby care issues.

“A Health Baby Begins with Me” Baby Shower

September/October 2009Focus Groups

To assess what racial and ethnic minority populations (African American, Hispanic, and Native American) know, need to know and how they learn about pregnancy health.

Early 2010A Healthy Baby Tool Kit

The toolkit is designed to assist with the development of a community baby shower.

Includes a checklist of partners to invite, resources for donations, and a technical assistance guide.

2008-2009 Medical Interpreter Trainings 2008 Cultural Competency Trainings OU College of Public Health

2009 Cultural Competency Trainings OSDH Training and Education Development 2009-2010 Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) for Health Care

Cultural Competency& LEP Trainings

Office of Minority HealthOklahoma State Department of Health

1000 NE 10th Oklahoma City, OK 73117-1299

405.271.1337

Questions?