-
Atlantic Health dives deep on data to advance health equity
Leaders at Atlantic Medical Group, a multispecialty physician network that is part of Atlantic Health System, in New Jersey, couldn’t figure out why the response rate for a patient-experience survey was so low among Spanish-speaking patients. The survey was in Spanish, but the response rate was just 8%, less than half the rate from the general population, said the medical group’s chief medical officer Scott Lauter, MD. Some digging revealed that the survey’s promotional materials were written in English. “We realized we weren’t hearing the voices of our patients who speak Spanish,” he said. The physician network took immediate steps to translate the materials into Spanish. “It’s a little story…
-
Environmental Factor – April 2022: Environmental health equity centered in implementing interventions
Environmental health scientists forged a new partnership with implementation scientists to discuss how, together, they might address challenges and improve environmental health equity, during a two-day workshop held on Feb. 28 and March 1. The Advancing Environmental Health Equity Through Implementation Science workshop was a joint effort among NIEHS and the following entities, which also are part of the National Institutes of Health. Martin, who was trained as a medical anthropologist, explained in this podcast interview several ways in which implementation science can be applied to the field of environmental health. (Photo courtesy of Steve McCaw / NIEHS) Workshop co-chairs included Lindsey Martin, Ph.D., a health scientist administrator in the…
-
US workers sue Georgia for transgender healthcare discrimination | Gender Equity News
Two state employees and a public school media clerk are suing the state of Georgia in southeast United States, saying state health insurance illegally discriminates by refusing to pay for gender-transition healthcare. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Atlanta on Wednesday by Micha Rich, Benjamin Johnson and an anonymous state employee suing on behalf of her adult child. They argue Georgia’s State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP), which insures more than 660,000 state government and public school employees and retirees, is breaking federal law. “The exclusion not only harms the health and finances of transgender people seeking gender dysphoria treatment, it also reinforces the stigma attached to being transgender,…
-
Advancing racial and ethnic equity in health
“Racism is a public health emergency of global concern.” Since we wrote these words in June, 2020, a monumental worldwide reckoning with racism, xenophobia, and discrimination in society—its roots, its consequences, and its redress—has gathered pace. Marches have taken place and statues have been toppled, activists galvanised and institutions investigated, reforms proposed and elections contested. Progress has been uneven, but interrogation of the power structures that prejudice and mistreat specific groups of people while privileging others has heightened an acknowledgment of racism and its harms—hatred, intolerance, and discrimination kill. These issues are as pervasive in medicine, medical science, and global health as in society. Today, The Lancet publishes a special…
-
UnitedHealth Group 2021 Sustainability Report Includes New Health Equity and Environmental Health Commitments
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) today released its 2021 Sustainability Report detailing the company’s ongoing commitment to helping meet the needs of those it serves, including customers, employees, shareholders and society broadly. “This year’s report demonstrates how UnitedHealth Group is helping to improve the lives of the people and communities we serve through the work carried out each day by our 350,000 team members,” said Patricia L. Lewis, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer, UnitedHealth Group. “As a leading health care organization, we recognize there is more work to be done. We continue to prioritize our responsibility to help advance sustainability efforts through community partnerships and systemwide collaboration — working…
