Utah Department of Health Office of Health Disparities
The Connection: News about overcoming health disparities in Utah

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

New Health Video Features Utah’s Cultural Diversity

The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) Office of Health Disparities (OHD) has released the new video, Health in 3-D, to encourage health care providers and public health professionals to improve services by becoming aware of diversity, the social determinants of health, and health disparities.

The video features diverse Utah community members discussing how their cultural backgrounds and personal circumstances have affected their health and their interactions with providers in Utah.

In the video, Siope Lee Kinikini, son of Tongan immigrants, describes how his Tongan-American upbringing has given him a different perspective on health than that held by his health care providers. “I don't think they really understand who I am or the way that I look at my life and what I value as being important.  I think they look at it as though you need to do this in order to be healthy and happy, but for me, my definition is not the same as theirs.”

Everette  Bacon, who is blind, discusses how people with sight view blindness differently than he does.  “People believe that blindness is directly related to health and I don’t have that same viewpoint. Blindness is just kind of a part of you, much like what hair color you have.”

Carol Taylor described her reaction when a younger person told her she was spry. “I thought, somebody would only say that to somebody that’s old.”

Health workers are praising the video. “Everyone I work with said how good, simple, and to the point it is—a big eye opener," said Jacqueline Gomez-Arias, who has used the new video for trainings with Utah Support Advocates for Recovery Awareness (USARA) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness Latino of Utah (NAMI Latino de Utah).

The UDOH Office of Health Disparities also offers an interactive quiz to accompany the video for use at staff meetings and trainings. The video and quiz are available free of charge at http://health.utah.gov/disparities/training/healthin3D.html.


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