OHD awarded State Partnership Grant from HHS

The Office of Health Disparities was awarded the State Partnership Grant to Improve Minority Health, a grant from the U.S  Department of Health and Human Services aimed at reducing health disparities among racial/ethnic minorities in geographic hot spots in communities (not at the state level). 

The project proposed by OHD will address the problem of inadequate access to primary health care and oral health services among racial/ethnic minorities and other under-served populations in the Glendale suburb of Salt Lake City and the City of South Salt Lake. These two locations have the highest combined proportion of racial/ethnic minorities and poverty levels of any other urban communities in Utah. The communities living in those areas face significant barriers and challenges to obtaining health and dental care, such as limited English proficiency/language assistance needs, low health literacy levels, and limited familiarity with clinical guidelines and local health systems.

This five year project will be implemented in partnership with different agencies and community organizations. This was a very competitive grant and only sixteen states nationwide were awarded. Utah is the only state in Region VIII that received the award.

For more information contact OHD at disparities@utah.gov

Utah Youth E-Cigarette Usage Nearly Doubles in 2015

(Salt Lake City, UT) – New data released today by the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) showed a substantial increase in the use of electronic cigarettes by youth in grades 8, 10, and 12.  The data was included in the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) annual Legislative Report and revealed that in 2015, 10.5 percent of Utah youth reported they currently use electronic cigarettes; nearly double the 5.8 percent reported in 2013.  In the same time frame, adult e-cigarette use remained unchanged at 4.8 percent.

Traditional tobacco use among youth remained low at 3.4% but e-cigarette use grew at an alarming rate.  The report indicated 30 percent of youth in grade 12 have tried e-cigarettes.  Additionally, nearly half of all Utah youth who use e-cigarettes have never tried conventional cigarettes.

“While the use of electronic cigarettes leveled off among adults in 2014, the youth experimentation and use rates are more than double the rates reported by Utah adults,” said Dr. Joseph Miner, Executive Director of the UDOH. “The prevalence of fruit or candy-like flavored e-juices and the use of celebrities in advertising make these products especially enticing to youth.”

Findings in this report also detailed where youth are accessing e-cigarettes and e-juice. Most youth are borrowing the devices from friends, but others are illegally obtaining them from convenience stores, supermarkets, discount stores, gas stations, and tobacco or vape shops.

The UDOH works in partnership with Utah’s 13 local health departments to address tobacco prevention. “Despite this alarming trend, all of our local health departments have been working hard to educate their communities about e-cigarettes and the dangers of nicotine use by youth,” said Brian Bennion, Executive Director of the Weber-Morgan Health Department.  “We are now seeing the impact of their work in relation to policy changes that make it harder for teens to access tobacco products but there is still more to be done.”
The UDOH encourages Utahns currently using tobacco and other nicotine devices to consider the long-term damage to their health, including emphysema, lung, mouth and other cancers, and tooth loss.  Information on how to quit and free cessation services can be found at www.waytoquit.org.
 
To download a copy of the 2015 TPCP Legislative Report or to view e-cigarette data specific to your area, visit http://health.utah.gov/legislativereports/.

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Media Contact:
Brittany Karzen
Media Liaison
Cell: (714) 267-3679

OHD Holds Summit with Community Partners

OHD Summit: Partnerships with Purpose on August 20

On August 20, OHD held the 2015 Partnerships with Purpose Summit to celebrate successes and look ahead to exciting new projects and partnerships.

Thanks to all of our partners who shared their expertise with us.   If you missed it or want more information, here are the presentations that were offered:

• Key Elements to Successful Partnerships- Moisés Próspero, PhD

• Utah Office of Health Disparities: Progress, Projects, and Partners  - Dulce Díez, MPH, OHD

• Health Status by Race & Ethnicity 2015 – Jake Fitisemanu, MPH, OHD

• Addressing Birth Outcomes Disparities among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Communities in Utah – Brittney Okada, CHES, OHD

• Addressing Health Concerns of U.S. born African Americans in Utah - Tashelle Wright, OHD

• The Myths of Multitasking  - David Strayer, PhD, University of Utah (YouTube video of presentation at 2014 Governor’s OPS Conference)

• Cultivating Community Partnerships for the Health and Well-Being of Hispanics Living in Utah – Ana C. Sancez-Birkhead, PhD, Hispanic Heath Care Task Force

• Partnerships in Health & Humans Services Region VIII –Lorenzo Olivas, MPH, Office of Minority Health, Region VIII

Thanks again to all of our partners who made this event a success.  Questions? Comments? Contact OHD at 801-273-4140 or disparities@utah.gov. 

The 6th Annual Pink Dress Masquerade

This fall, we are celebrating community empowerment and highlighting our work in the fight against debilitating health disparities like breast cancer! Join us for:    ~ A Breast Cancer Survivor Fashion Show ~ ~ Best Mask Contest ~ ~ Food, Drinks, Entertainment and Prizes! ~  Make sure to save the date on your calendar for this exclusive Masquerade. We Can't Wait to Celebrate with You!

When: Friday, October 30, 2015 7:00 PM-9:00 PM. Doors open at 6:15 for VIP Guests. Where: The Leonardo Museum 209 East 500 South SLC, UT - Third Floor General Admission: $50 in advance $60 at the door VIP Package: $75/ticket $550/table for 8 VIP package includes drink ticket, reserved seating & 2 opporunity drawing tickets Advance tickets are on sale!

85% of Hospitals Committed to Population Health, says AHA/PHI National Survey

As the healthcare sector continues to go through tremendous transformation, an overwhelming majority of hospitals now voice a strong commitment to population health, according to a new national survey of hospitals conducted by the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Association for Community Health Improvement (ACHI) and Health Research & Educational Trust, in partnership with the Public Health Institute. Takeaways include: Hospitals are committed to population health. 85% of responding hospitals reported “strong” or “total” commitment to population health, or have population health in their vision statement. 90% “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that population health was aligned with their mission. Hospitals seek collaboration and partnership. 69% reported being part of a community-wide coalition. Over 80% agreed or strongly agreed that they had strong collaborations with community organizations. The most common partnerships were with public health departments, chambers of commerce, health insurance companies and community clinics. There is more to be done. Less than 20% “strongly agreed” that their hospital had programs to address the socioeconomic determinants of health. Some strong, potential partners have yet to be brought to the table. Hospitals were least likely to collaborate with housing/community development and transportation allies. “I have spent my career jointly working on behalf of hospitals and working on behalf of public health. We each have so much to learn from each other—I am encouraged to see that synergy is beginning to happen,” said Mary A. Pittman, DrPH, president and CEO of the Public Health Institute (PHI), and former head of AHA’s Health Research and Educational Trust. “Providing excellent clinical care for patients remains essential, but hospitals are also in a strong position to engage in efforts in the broader community that address factors that cause illness in the first place.” Find out more about the survey results.

Apply Now for Free Program Evaluation Planning Services

APPLY NOW FOR FREE PROGRAM EVALUATION PLANNING SERVICES!

 The BYU MPA program is seeking community partners for our course in public program evaluation. We work with our community partners to develop logic models, evaluation plans, and evaluation instrumentation (surveys and other data collection methods). Consultations run from September until December. Organizations do NOT have to know anything about evaluation and do not have to be considered "evaluation ready." We help organizations/programs identify what evaluation activities are appropriate and practical for their particular circumstances, and then develop detailed, step-by-step plans tailored to your organization.

The application process takes about 5-10 minutes. APPLY HERE

Program evaluation plans help your organization to gather data that can be used to: 

• Provide evaluation information in grant proposals*Evaluate feasibility of engaging in program evaluation activities*Improve current evaluation practices*Generate data that can be used to justify your program to stakeholders, funders and clients

By working as a community partner with Master’s of Public Administration students from BYU, you will receive a comprehensive program evaluation plan tailored to your specific needs including:

• Budget and timeline tailored to your resources (even if you don’t think you have any!)
• Program logic model
• Evaluation stakeholder analysis
• Program process evaluation model
• Instructions for data collection and analysis including sampling methodology
• Data collection tools including surveys, focus group questions, etc.
• Written and oral presentations of the program evaluation plan 

In exchange for the learning experience for our master’s level student consultants, these services are provided to selected partners free of charge and are completed under the supervision of Dr. Eva Witesman of the BYU Marriott School of Management. Projects will begin in September 2015. 

To qualify, you must:

• Represent a public or nonprofit organization or a charitable program
• Have a specific project or program requiring evaluation (one-time or ongoing evaluation)
• Identify a contact person from your organization who will be available for consultation by phone, e-mail, video conference, or in person (so that we can best tailor the program evaluation plan to meet your needs) 

TO APPLY, PLEASE SUBMIT AN APPLICATION BEFORE AUGUST 29. You will be directed to a short form that will ask for your name, organization, contact information, and information about the specific project(s) to be evaluated. Once we have received your information, we will contact you to discuss your project(s). 

SPACE IS LIMITED! APPLY NOW! 

Proposal form link: https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_eR2la1IrV1ZOX0o

For more information, please contact Dr. Eva Witesman by e-mail at eva_witesman@byu.edu.

EXPLORING UTAH’S MULTICULTURAL PAST

Join us on OCTOBER 2, 2015 for the
Annual Utah State History Conference

Utah Cultural Celebration Center
1355 W 3100 S, West Valley City

Register now for the free conference at

history.utah.gov/2015-conference

Thank you to our conference sponsors: W.W. Clyde & Co, Ames Construction, the Utah Westerners, Chevron, American West Center (U of U), the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies (BYU), Fort Douglas Military Museum, and the J. Willard Marriott Library (U of U). 

Health Care Law Tax Provisions: IRS Recorded Webinars for Employers and Coverage Providers

Employers and health coverage providers now have access to recorded webinars from IRS about the Affordable Care Act’s employer provisions and related tax requirements. If you are a business owner, tax manager, employee benefits manager, or health coverage provider, you can access and review these videos anytime to better understand how the health care law may affect your organization.

Each of the following ACA videos on the IRS Video Portal provides about 40 minutes of detailed information on the specific tax provision mentioned in the title.

Employer Shared Responsibility Provision (47 minutes)

Learn about determining applicable large employer status, payments, and transition relief for 2015.

Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage Information Reporting Requirements for Applicable Large Employers (37 minutes)

Learn about employer-sponsored health coverage information reporting requirements for applicable large employers, including:

• who is required to report
• what information the law requires you to report
• how to complete the required forms

Information Reporting Requirements for Providers of Minimum Essential Coverage (35 minutes) 

Learn about the information reporting requirements for providers of minimum essential coverage, including employers that provide self-insured coverage.  Learn about

• who is required to report
• what information the law requires you to report
• how to complete the required forms

View the recorded webinars in the IRS Video Portal using one of the following tabs: Businesses, Tax Professionals, Governments and Non-Profits. After clicking on one of these tabs, simply select “Affordable Care Act” from the list of topics on the left side of the screen, and you will see a list of recordings about these and other ACA topics. 

In addition to videos about the tax provisions of the Affordable Care Act on the IRS Video Portal, there is a wide range of videos on other tax topics for individuals, businesses and tax professionals. 

For more information about the Affordable Care Act visit IRS.gov/aca.

Moving? You may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period

You may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period

The end of Summer marks one of the most popular season for moving. But there are some things you can’t pack in boxes — like the peace of mind you get from having health insurance. 

If you’re moving, whether out of state or within your current state, you may be able to getMarketplace health insurance coverage with a Special Enrollment Period. This means you can enroll in or change your plan outside the annual Open Enrollment Period. In most cases, you’ll have 60 days from your move date to enroll in new coverage or change your plan.

Depending on where you move, you may have new options, prices, and savings available to you.

Learn more about moving and Marketplace coverage.

The HealthCare.gov Team

Guide to Providing Effective Communication and Language Assistance Services

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Minority Health has create the Guide to Providing Effective Communication and Language Assistance Services. This is a tool to help you and your organization facilitate communication with the culturally and linguistically diverse individuals receiving care and services from your organization, including those with limited English proficiency (LEP). Mutual understanding helps ensure the provision of safe, quality health care.

The Guide covers strategies for communicating in a way that considers the cultural, health literacy, and language needs of your patients and their families. It is designed for health care providers, administrators, and executives who work across a broad spectrum of health care organizations. Two tracks of the Guide are available:

• One is tailored to health care administrators, with information on planning, implementing, and evaluating effective communication and language assistance services.

• One is tailored to health care providers (or those providing direct care and services), with information on cross-cultural communication skills, working with an interpreter, and more.

Launched in June, this updated Guide replaces our existing communication e-resource, A Patient-Centered Guide to Implementing Language Access Services.

For more information or to access the Guide, please visit https://hclsig.ThinkCulturalHealth.hhs.gov.

Data about 2015 Special Enrollment Period Report Snapshot – February 23 – June 30, 2015

The next open enrollment period for Marketplace coverage begins on November 1, 2015 for coverage starting on January 1, 2016. Some people can sign up for health coverage outside of open enrollment, before November 1, because they qualify for a special enrollment period (SEP). A consumer can qualify for a SEP for such circumstances as loss of health coverage, losing Medicaid eligibility, changes in family status (for example, marriage or birth of a child), or other exceptional circumstances.

This snapshot provides information about consumers who selected a plan between February 23 and June 30, 2015 through the HealthCare.gov platform, which includes 37 states with Federally Facilitated Marketplaces, State Partnership Marketplaces, and supported State-Based Marketplaces.

Nearly 950,000 new consumers selected a plan through the HealthCare.gov platform using a SEP between February 23 and June 30, 2015.

“Life changes are often impossible to predict, but access to affordable and quality health care coverage should never be. So far this year, nearly 950,000 people have gained the peace of mind that comes with access to coverage by taking advantage of a special enrollment period, providing us with further evidence that the Health Insurance Marketplace is working for America’s families,” said Kevin Counihan, CEO of the Health Insurance Marketplace. “We want people to know that if they lose a job, get married, have a baby, or experience other life changes, we’re here to help them find coverage they can afford.”

Today’s Special Enrollment Period Snapshot only reflects plan selection activity and, as such, does not capture whether consumers effectuated their enrollment and continued paying for health insurance coverage following the plan selection.

Overall SEP Activity

Between February 23 and June 30, 2015, about 944,000 new consumers made plan selections through HealthCare.gov using a SEP. Eighty-four percent of plan selections occurred via three types of SEPs: 50 percent of plan selections occurred via SEPs for the loss of health coverage or “minimum essential coverage”, 19 percent occurred via SEPs for being determined ineligible for Medicaid, and 15 percent were as a result of tax season SEP (Table 1). The remaining 16 percent of plan selections were attributable to other types of SEPs (see glossary).

States info, graphic, and snapshot can be found at: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2015-Fact-sheets-items/2015-08-13.html

Updated Interactive Enrollment Map With New Demographic Data

Wondering how many people got financial help to get covered in your county? Interested in finding out the income levels, ages, and races/ethnicities of 2015 marketplace enrollees at the local level? Based on just-released federal stats, our data team created an interactive map displaying plan selections -- and demographic profiles of who signed up -- by county for the 37 HealthCare.gov states. This amount of data for individual counties is unprecedented, and provides a new window on enrollment trends in HealthCare​.gov states.

OHD Funding Opportunity

The Utah Department of Health Office of Health Disparities is releasing a revised Request for Proposal (RFP) to raise awareness of birth outcomes and infant mortality among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities in Utah.

Funding Cycle: September 15, 2015 to June 30, 2016

New Release Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Application due date: 

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

5:00 p.m. MDT

Go to http://www.health.utah.gov/disparities/data/RevisedRFPBirthOutcomesPI.pdf to view the RFP.

Contact Dulce Díez at ddiez@utah.gov or Brittney Okada at bokada@utah.gov with further questions.  

Free Health Fair at the Asian Association

Asian Association of UtahRefugee Immigrant Center

When: August 15, 2015 10 am to 2 pm

Where: 155 S 300 W, Salt Lake City

Free Screenings

Vision

Cholesterol

Blood pressure

and more!

Vaccinations Available

All attendees will receive a free bag of produce