2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

333737
Understanding the impact of determinants of health: A case for data


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 8:50 a.m. - 9:10 a.m.

Sheryl Weir, MPH, Health Disparities Reduction and Minority Health, Michigan Department of Community Health, Detroit, MI
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Racial and ethnic disparities in health status have been widely documented in the US and in

Racial and ethnic disparities in health status have been widely documented in the US and in Michigan.  The Michigan Department of Community Health, Health Disparities Reduction and Minority Health Section (HDRMHS) was established in 1988 to focus on eliminating health disparities in five racial and ethnic populations: African Americans, American Indians, Arabs/Chaldean American, Asian Americans and Hispanics/Latino. A key focus of the Section efforts is ‘to improve race and ethnicity data collection, data systems and data accessibility1.’  Improved data collection and analysis are vital to minority health related programming, funding and policy.  To that end, the Michigan Department of Community Health HDRMHS has embarked on two projects to improve the availability of health related data and develop a data set that can be used to monitor equity over time.  This presentation will discuss the process of conducting Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance-like surveys on smaller racial and ethnic minority populations in Michigan and, the development of the Michigan Health Equity Data Project which provides a data set through with racial and ethnic minority health equity is monitored over time.

1. Michigan Health Equity Roadmap, 2010 www. michigan.gov/minorityhealth

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Program planning
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the importance of data in addressing racial and ethnic health inequitites. Describe Michigan efforts to improve data collection for racial and ethnic minorities. Describe how the Michigan Health Equity Data Project is used to monitor health equity over time.

Keyword(s): Minority Health, Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Section Manager for the Health Dispariaties Reduction and Minority Health program. Our Section is responsible for monitoring the health status of racial and ethnic minorities in the State of Michigan.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4018.0: Minority Health Outcomes Spanning over two decades: OMH Region V