Related:

AMCHP is committed to supporting state efforts to eliminate health disparities and achieve health equity.  Our Strategic Plan includes a focus on pursuing the elimination of health disparities and inequities, particularly among racial and ethnic groups.  Title V Programs work in a variety of ways to reduce and eliminate health disparities and address the root causes of inequity at the state and local level.

In addition, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health, AMCHP helps state and local MCH public health programs address racial and ethnic perinatal disparities. Our work in this area was initiated in 2001 in response to research linking higher risks for poor birth outcomes (i.e., preterm delivery, low birthweight, and infant and maternal mortality) among minority women to social and environmental factors such as chronic stress and racial discrimination.

AMCHP Resources:

• MCHB/DHSPS Building Partnerships to Improve Birth Outcomes (Webcast - April 2005)
• AMCHP Annual Meeting 2005: Delivering Results - Improving Pregnancy and Birth (Webcast - February 2005)
• AMCHP Perinatal Disparities Action Learning Lab 2004
• AMCHP Annual Meeting: Mobilizing to Eliminate Health Disparities (Webcast - March 2003)
• APHA National Public Health Week: "Eliminating Health Disparities" (Best Practices Database - April 2004)

Related Programs

• Building State Partnerships to Improve Birth Outcomes (Perinatal Disparities Action Learning Lab Report - January 2005)
• Reducing Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Birth Outcomes (Slide Presentation - May 2004)
• A Healthy Start Guide to Program Excellence and Community Based Interventions (Slide Presentation - May 2004)
• Strategic Planning and Community Engagement: Tools for Addressing Disparities (Slide Presentation - May 2004)
• Reducing Perinatal Disparities through Advocacy (Slide Presentation - May 2004)
• Evaluating Community Based Efforts (Slide Presentation - May 2004)
• Social Determinants of Reproductive Health Disparities (Slide Presentation - January 2004)
• Engaging Communities (Slide Presentation - January 2004)
• Developing State Leadership in MCH to Reduce Perinatal Disparities (Slide Presentation - January 2004)

External Resources

• AHRQ National Healthcare Disparities Report 2003
• CDC - Research on Racial and Ethnic Minorities
• CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010)
• DHHS Closing the Health Gap - Regional Highlights
• Health Policy Guide - Bringing Policy Change to Your Community
• IOM Report - Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare 2002
• National Healthy Start Association - Perinatal Disparities Information
• National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Health Equity and Social Justice
• PolicyLink Report - Reducing Health Disparities Through a Focus on Communities 2002
• UNC Webcast 2003 - Confronting Institutional Racism