September 2005

Introduction

This knowledge path has been compiled by the Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University. It presents a selection of current, high-quality resources about identifying and eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health. The path is aimed at health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, researchers, and families, and it will be updated periodically.

Related topics: Please see our knowledge path about Spanish-language health resources (Also available in Spanish).

Overview

See the Kaiser Family Foundation's issue brief, Policy challenges and opportunities in closing the racial/ethnic divide in health care (2005), which builds on the recommendations made in the Institute of Medicine's report, Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in care (2003).

Web Sites: A-Z

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): Minority Health. Describes AHRQ's efforts to identify and understand how inequities in health care contribute to disparities in health and how disparities can be eliminated. Includes links to AHRQ-funded centers, research programs, and support networks that focus on disparities in health. Also links to conference and meeting information, workshop summaries, evidence reports, speeches and testimony, and research findings. AHRQ is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Recent reports include

  National healthcare disparities report. (2003-). This annual report provides an overview of disparities in health care among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in the general U.S. population and among priority populations and tracks the nation's progress toward the elimination of disparities in health care. Also see two fact sheets that highlight findings from the report about child and adolescent health care and women's health care.

  Strategies for improving minority healthcare quality. (2004).

• American Medical Association (AMA): Eliminating Health Disparities. Offers program information for health professionals aimed at the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in health. Professional education materials include

  Improving immunizations: Addressing racial and ethnic populations, rev. ed. (2005).

• American Public Health Association (APHA). Contains policy statements, fact sheets, and journal articles about disparities in health along with information about legislative activities and conferences. APHA also maintains a database about programs and initiatives around the country that are working to address disparities in health.
  
  
• Census Bureau: Minority Links. Contains data on racial and ethnic populations in the United States. Includes social and economic characteristics for Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, and American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
  
  
• Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS). Contains resources and information about initiatives and funded projects to help states, health plans, and consumer organizations effectively use managed care to improve the quality of services for beneficiaries and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health. CHCS provides training and technical assistance to improve the quality of publicly financed health care in the United States.
  
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Offers programs and initiatives about racial and ethnic disparities in health that include

  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). This series of publications contains articles and data about infectious and chronic diseases, environmental hazards, natural or human-generated disasters, occupational diseases and injuries, intentional and unintentional injuries, and other topics of interest to the public health community. Search for articles about racial and ethnic disparities in health or about specific population groups.

  National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Contains vital and health statistics about racial and ethnic groups. Resources include

  • Access to health care among Hispanic/Latino children in the United States, 1998-2001. (2004). This report evaluates access to health care for five subgroups of Hispanic/Latino children in the United States: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, and other Hispanics.
    
    
  • Health, United States. This annual report on trends in health statistics includes information about racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in health.
    
    
  • Healthy Women: State Trends in Health and Mortality. Contains data tables that describe the health of people in each state by sex, race, and age.
    
    
  • Methodological issues in measuring health disparities. (2005). This report discusses six issues that affect the measurement of disparities in health between groups in a population.
    
    
  • National Vital Statistics System. Tracks births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths by race and ethnic group.
    

  Office of Minority Health (OMH). Contains program and conference information, reports, and other resources about efforts to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling the disproportionate burden of disease, injury, and disability among racial and ethnic minority populations.

  Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH 2010). Includes program information about community coalitions working to eliminate disparities in health in six priority areas: breast and cervical cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, immunizations, and infant mortality. A report provides background information about the effort.

• Commonwealth Fund. Examines differences in health care delivery based on race, ethnicity, and income and identifies strategies to reduce disparities in health and their impact. The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation supporting independent research on health and social issues. Recent publications include

  Addressing unequal treatment: Disparities in health care. (2004).

  Creating a state minority health policy report card. (2005).

  Cultural competence and health care disparities: Key perspectives and trends. (2005).

  Eliminating disparities in treatment and the struggle to end segregation. (2005).

  Equity measures and systems reform as tools for reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health care. (2005).

  Limited English proficiency, primary language at home, and disparities in children's health care: How language barriers are measured matters. (2005).

  Policies to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in child health and health care. (2004).

  Review of the quality of health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives. (2004).

  Women at risk: The health of women in New York City. (2005).

• Community Voices: Health Care for the Underserved. Contains program descriptions, articles, and policy briefs about community efforts to improve access to and quality of health care for underserved populations in the United States. Community Voices is an initiative of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
  
  
• EthnoMed. Contains information about cultural beliefs, medical issues, and other related issues pertinent to the health care of recent immigrants to the Seattle area. Much of the information is applicable to other geographic areas in the United States. EthnoMed is a joint project of the University of Washington Health Sciences Library and the Harborview Medical Center.
  
  
• Factline: Tracking Health in Underserved Communities. Presents information about health disparities faced by women, members of minority groups, the elderly, and others. Includes bibliographic references to the literature in which each finding is established. The framework for the research is Healthy People 2010. Factline is a project of the Journal of HealthCare for the Poor and Underserved, and it is sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and Meharry Medical College.
  
  
• Hablamos Juntos (HJ). Contains program information and a bibliography of materials about developing affordable models for health professionals to overcome language barriers and to develop the business case for language services. Topics include signage, translation and the production of Spanish language materials, and interpreter services. HJ is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
  
  
• Health Literacy Studies (HLS). Includes research and program materials for health literacy initiatives, including those designed for particular racial and ethnic groups. HLS is a program of the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).
  
  
• Health Disparities Collaboratives. Describes the goals, methods and models, partnerships, and accomplishments of the collaboratives for health centers across the country to reduce disparities in health outcomes for underserved and vulnerable populations. Includes resources to support the work of the collaboratives, documents for each of the three models of the collaborative process, and charter documents, conference information, and team experiences. Collaboratives focus on diabetes, asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression, and prevention. The collaboratives are sponsored by the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC).
  
  
• Healthy People 2010. Describes this national health promotion and disease prevention initiative created by a broad coalition of experts from many sectors to improve the health of all Americans. Healthy People is designed to achieve two overarching goals, one of which is to eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population. It contains 467 objectives in 28 focus areas. Healthy People 2010 provides background information on the initiative; the complete text (online and searchable), Healthy People 2010: Understanding and improving health (2nd ed.) (2000); data; a list of the Healthy People partners and related sites; and other Healthy People publications. It is coordinated by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
  
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). Contains policy research and analysis, program information, state-level data, Webcasts, and other resources about minority health that focus on efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care access and quality. Also offers the Race, Ethnicity, and Health Care Reference Library, an online health policy resource for faculty and students. Recent publications and initiatives include

  Disparities in maternal and infant health: Are we making progress? Lessons from California. (2004).

  Fact sheet: African Americans and HIV/AIDS, rev. ed. (2005).

  Fact sheet: Latinos and HIV/AIDS, rev. ed. (2005).

  Policy challenges and opportunities in closing the racial/ethnic divide in health care. (2005).

  Race, ethnicity and health care. (2004). [Online tutorial].

  Racial and ethnic disparities in women’s health coverage and access to care. (2004).

  Uninsured and underserved: The health care experiences of Latinos in the nation's capital. (2004).

  Why the Difference? Contains program information and resources for this national initiative to raise physician awareness about racial and ethnic disparities in medical care, beginning with cardiac care.

• LEP.gov. Offers information, tools, and technical assistance about limited English proficiency (LEP) and language services for federal agencies, recipients of federal funds, users of federal programs and federally assisted programs, and the general public. LEP.gov was created by the Federal Interagency Working Group on Limited English Proficiency to promote a positive and cooperative understanding of the importance of language access to federal programs and federally assisted programs.
  
  
• National Alliance for Hispanic Health. Provides legislative and program information and publications that include the results of a Hispanic health needs assessment. Also offers consumer health resources in English and Spanish and information about health issues important to the Hispanic community. The alliance is a network of health and human service providers for over 12 million Hispanic consumers throughout the United States.
  
  
• National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC). Includes resources that examine disparities in health among racial and ethnic groups and why there is a need for cultural competence to eliminate these disparities. NCCC is part of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development. Resources include

  Bridging the cultural divide in health care settings: The essential role of cultural broker programs. (Also available in Spanish). (2004).

  Infusing cultural and linguistic competence into health promotion training. (2005). This DVD for experienced health promotion trainers aims to help ensure that their approaches with diverse populations address culture and language in an effective, appropriate, and respectful manner. Web-based group training materials are available to complement the DVD. The DVD is available at no cost from the National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center.

  Promising Practices for Enhancing Cultural and Linguistic Competence at the Individual and Institutional Levels. Highlights promising and/or evidence-based practices in cultural and linguistic competence, including some designed to eliminate or reduce health disparities.

• National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD). Includes grant and program information, congressional testimony, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) strategic plan and budget to address disparities in health. NCMHD is part of NIH.
  
  
• National Council of La Raza (NCLR): Institute for Hispanic Health. Contains program information and materials for improving the health and well-being of Hispanic Americans. NCLR is a national nonprofit organization aiming to reduce poverty and discrimination and improve life opportunities for Hispanic Americans. A recent publication is

  Health of Latino communities in the South: Challenges and opportunities. (2004).

• National Health Law Program (NHeLP). Presents collections of resources that address language access in health care, cultural and linguistic access to health services, and racial and civil rights issues in health. NHeLP is a national public interest law firm that aims to improve health care for low-income families, ethnic and minority populations, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Recent publications include

  Language access in health care statement of principles. (2005).

  Providing language services in small health care provider settings: Examples from the field. (2005).

• National Library of Medicine (NLM). Offers online collections of resources for and about specific populations: American Indian Health, Arctic Health, Asian American Health. Includes links to background on cultural traditions and heritage and to information on health topics especially relevant to the population group. Links to publications, Web sites, databases, and other resources for health professionals and consumers are included. Also see NLM's MedlinePlus and PubMed.
  
  
• Office of Minority Health (OMH). Links to program information, conferences, publications, data, federal clearinghouses, and other resources about minority health issues such as racial and ethnic disparities in health. OMH was created by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to advise on public health issues affecting American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans. Recent initiatives include

  Closing the Health Gap. Links to consumer health resources and campaign materials in English and Spanish aimed at improving the health of racial and ethnic minority populations.

  National Leadership Summit on Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health. Resources about this January 2006 summit bringing together leaders from all levels of government, academia, public health, mental health, minority-serving institutions, and minority communities to advance key issues and opportunities for improving minority health and closing the health gap.

• Pew Hispanic Center. Presents reports, fact sheets, surveys, and datasets that aim to illuminate Latino views on social matters and public policy issues, improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population, and chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the entire nation. Topics include demography, economics, education, identity, immigration, labor, politics, and remittances. The center is supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
  
  
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Minority Health Project to Eliminate Health Disparities. Contains news and information about grants, conferences, public health courses, reports, and other resources concerning minority health and disparities in health.
  

  
  

Additional Electronic Publications

• American Lung Association. 2007. State of lung disease in diverse communities. New York, NY: American Lung Association. This report provides statistics, background material, and useful information about important lung health issues such as asthma, smoking, and clean air as they relate to racially and ethnically diverse communities.
  
  
• America's Health Insurance Plans. 2004. Collection of racial and ethnic data by health plans to address disparities: Final summary report. Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This report presents the results of a survey of health insurance plans about the extent to which they collect and use data on the race and ethnicity of their enrollees to improve quality of care.
  
  
• Barnes-Josiah D, Fitzgerald M, eds. 2004. Undoing racism in public health: A blueprint for action in urban MCH. Omaha, NE: CityMatCH, University of Nebraska Medical Center. This report focuses on strategies for eliminating racism and racial disparities in public health. Section 1 examines the scientific basis for racism as a determinant of health status and disparities in health, and how institutional racism manifests in health care and health departments. Section 2 provides an overview of existing directions, options, and resources for eliminating racism. Section 3 outlines a series of activities for a local public health-based initiative for eliminating racism.
  
  
• Capps R, Fix ME, Ost J, Reardon-Anderson J, Passel JS. 2005. Health and well-being of young children of immigrants. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. This report examines research on the health and well-being of children ages 6 and younger in immigrant families (those with at least one parent born outside the United States). The report includes a section about health status and insurance coverage.
  
  
• Castillo-Page L. 2005. Minorities in medical education: Facts and figures 2005. Washington, DC: Association of American Medical Colleges. This report provides detailed racial and ethnic statistical information on medical education in the United States. It offers data related to pre-college education leading to the M.D. degree, medical school graduates, and medical school faculty.
  
  
• Children's Dental Health Project. 2004. Racial and ethnic disparities in oral health. Washington, DC: Children's Dental Health Project. This fact sheet discusses racial and ethnic disparities in oral health, oral health care, and oral health coverage; consequences of disparities; and dental work force diversity.
  
  
• Connecticut Health Foundation, Policy Panel on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2005. Pathways to equal health: Eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities in Connecticut. New Britain, CT: Connecticut Health Foundation. Also available en Español. This report examines unequal health outcomes among racial and ethnic communities in Connecticut and makes recommendations for the public and private sectors.
  
  
• Families USA. 2006. Making public programs work for communities of color: An action kit for community leaders. Washington, DC: Families USA. This kit aims to provide community leaders with the information, tools, and resources necessary to engage in health advocacy and improve the health and well-being of their communities with an emphasis on the importance of public programs in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities.
  
  
• Finegold K, Wherry L. 2004. Race, ethnicity, and health. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. This brief examines data from the 1997, 1999, and 2002 rounds of the National Survey of America's Families for changes in health insurance coverage and health status by race and ethnicity.
  
  
• Freeman HP, Wingrove BK. 2005. An analysis: Excess cervical cancer mortality a marker for low access to health care in poor communities. Rockville, MD: National Cancer Institute, Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities.
  
  
• Institute of Medicine, Committee on Communication for Behavior Change in the 21st Century. 2002. Speaking of health: Assessing health communication strategies for diverse populations. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. This book looks at the challenges public health communicators and health professionals face in delivering important health messages to diverse audiences. Using case studies in the areas of diabetes, mammography, and mass communication campaigns, the book examines the ways in which messages must be adapted to the unique informational needs of their audiences if they are to have any real impact.
  
  
• Institute of Medicine, Committee on Institutional and Policy-Level Strategies for Increasing the Diversity of the U.S. Healthcare Workforce. 2004. In the nation's compelling interest: Ensuring diversity in the health care workforce. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. This report examines institutional and policy-level strategies to increase diversity among health professionals.
  
  
• Kimminau KS Satzler CJ. 2005. Racial and ethnic minority health disparities in Kansas: A data and chartbook. Topeka, KS: Kansas Health Institute. This report presents data that document the breadth of disparities in housing, education, crime, income and employment, insurance status, and health indicators in Kansas at the state and county levels. The underlying causes of disparities in health are also discussed, and options for resolving these disparities are presented.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Bureau. 2002-. Women's health USA 200-. Rockville, MD: Maternal and Child Health Bureau. This annual data book includes information and data on population characteristics, health status, and health services utilization for women in the United States and highlights racial and ethnic disparities and gender differences in women's health.
  
  
• New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 2004. Health disparities in New York City: A report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. New York, NY: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. This report examines race, ethnicity, and income to analyze health data and identify disparities.
  
  
• Nielsen-Bohlman L, Panzer AM, Kindig DA, eds. 2004. Health literacy: A prescription to end confusion. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. This report examines the body of knowledge that applies to the field of health literacy and recommends actions to promote a health literate society.
  
  
• Office of the Surgeon General. 2001. Mental health: Culture, race, and ethnicity. A supplement to "Mental health: A report of the Surgeon General." Rockville, MD: Department of Health and Human Services. This report examines disparities in mental health affecting racial and ethnic minority populations and the role that cultural factors play in mental health.
  
  
• Rosenbaum S, Borzi PC, Repasch L, Burke T, Benevelli JF. 2005. Charting the legal environment of health information. Washington, DC: George Washington University Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This report examines the legal issues that arise with the development of more and better information to improve the quality of health care, particularly for those who are more prone to receiving substandard care, such as patients from certain racial and ethnic backgrounds.
  
  
• Rouse C, Brooks-Gunn J, McLanahan S. 2005. School readiness: Closing racial and ethnic gaps. Princeton, NJ: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs; Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. This issue of Future of Children examines possible explanations for disparities in school readiness and educational achievement, including low birthweight, genetic differences, early childhood care, and socioeconomic status and identifies policies that hold promise for closing the gap and improving outcomes for children.
  
  
• Smedley BD, Stith AY, Nelson AR, eds. 2003. Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. This book examines how racial and ethnic disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. The book also offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas.
  
  
• Ver Ploeg M, Perrin E, eds. 2004. Eliminating health disparities: Measurement and data needs. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. The report examines data collection and reporting systems relating to the collection of data on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic position and offers recommendations.
  

  
  

Webcasts

• Health Disparities and the Body Politic: Policy, Research, Data, and Government Responsibility. Presents Webcasts from three international symposia held in Spring 2005 by the Harvard School of Public Health. Health officials from Mexico, Sweden, England, and the United States examined the issue of government and disparities in health. The symposia are

  Spreading the health: Government's role in addressing health disparities. (2005).

  Investigating health disparities: New agendas for national health research institutes. (2005).

  Making disparities count: From government statistics systems to action. (2005).

• Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF): HealthCasts. Provides live and archived coverage of a wide range of health policy events, including seminars, conferences, press briefings, and congressional hearings. Recent Webcasts about disparities in health include

  Cultural competency: A critical component to address racial and ethnic health disparities for women. (2005).

  Inaugural health education research disparities summit: Health disparities and social inequities. (2005).

  Indian health care in the 21st century: A case study in disparities. (2005).

  
  

Databases

The databases listed below are excellent tools for identifying data, additional literature and research, and programs addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health. Many of the entries below contain tips on how to use the databases efficiently. Please note that databases vary in how terms should be entered; for example, some require quotation marks and others don't. Enter search phrases as shown in bold below.

Data

• Child Trends DataBank. Reports on national trends and research on over 80 key indicators of child and adolescent well-being, including the racial and ethnic composition of the child population. Health indicators include a section presenting differences by race and ethnicity. Child Trends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization providing research and data to inform decision-making that affects children and adolescents.
  
  
• Data2010: The Healthy People 2010 Database. Contains the most recent monitoring data for tracking Healthy People 2010. Data can be searched by a specific population group for each focus area. This data set is provided by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) via CDC Wonder.
  
  
• KIDS COUNT State-Level Data Online. Generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles for 75 measures of child well-being, including 10 indicators that are broken down by race and ethnicity. KIDS COUNT is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States.
  
  
• National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC™). Contains evidence-based health care quality measures and measure sets for physicians, hospitals, and health plans to evaluate and improve the quality of health care for patients. Type race OR racial OR "ethnic*" in the search box to identify measures on the topic. The database is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
  
  
• PeriStats. Provides access to maternal- and infant-health-related data at the national, state, county, and city level by aggregating data from 11 government agencies and organizations. Several indicators are broken down by race and ethnicity. Over 60,000 graphs, maps, and tables are available, and data are referenced to the relevant source and Healthy People 2010 objective. PeriStats is a service of the March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center.
  
  
• Quick Health Data Online. Offers comparative, county-level data on the health status of women for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories and possessions. Data are available by gender, race, ethnicity, and age on topics that include mortality, access to care, infections and chronic disease, reproductive health, maternal health, mental health, violence and abuse, and prevention. NWHID is a service of the Office on Women's Health (OWH).
  
  
• statehealthfacts.org: Minority Health. Includes information about minority health professionals and medical school enrollees and graduates, in addition to data by race/ethnicity for population demographics, insurance coverage, health status, and other topics This database is a service of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
  
  
• Title V Information System (Title V IS). Contains data from annual Title V block grant applications and reports submitted by all 59 U.S. states and jurisdictions. Learn about states' efforts to address racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and child health (MCH). Under Program Data, find the number of deliveries and infants served by Title V and deliveries and infants eligible for Title XIX, by race and Hispanic ethnicity. Also view Measurement and Indicator Data. Scroll to the State Data section and conduct searches for particular racial and ethnic groups under the State Priority Needs Keyword Search, State Performance Measures, and State Outcome Measures screens. Title V IS is a service of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).
  
  
• Also see Pew Hispanic Center.
  

Literature and Research

• Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH), Georgetown University. Maintains several databases to collect, manage, and disseminate knowledge about MCH, with special emphasis on knowledge gained from initiatives and programs supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The library's bibliographic database is

  MCHLine®. Comprises an online catalog of materials in the Maternal and Child Health Library. See the bibliographies, Racial and ethnic disparities in health and Culturally competent services, for a selection of recent library items on these topics.

  Maternal and Child Health Library also offers a Languages Index that identifies resources written in many non-English languages, from Albanian to Yoruba. Also see the library's organizations and programs databases.

• PubMed. Contains over 17 million citations for biomedical articles that date back to the 1950s. These citations are from MEDLINE and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full-text articles and other related resources. To identify many articles on the topic, enter the phrase ethnic groups OR minority groups in the search box. Then, click on Limits and make the following selections on the page: select a date (e.g. Published in the last 2 years); click on Humans; click on Languages: English; and select Tag Terms: MeSH Major Topic. Selecting Type of Article and/or adding additional search terms (e.g., (ethnic groups OR minority groups) AND asthma ) will further limit the search. Use MeSH to identify additional search terms, such as socioeconomic factors. PubMed is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
  
  
• Also see CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
  

Programs

• Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) Service Delivery Sites. Offers contact information for community health centers that provide free or low-cost care to underserved and vulnerable populations. The database is searchable by geographic area; clinic name; and type of service provided, including primary medical care, mental health care, and oral health care.
  
  
• Community Solutions to Health Disparities Database. Contains information about public health programs and initiatives around the country that are working to address the problem of disparities in health. The database is sponsored by the American Public Health Association (APHA).
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH), Georgetown University. Maintains two databases to identify organizations and programs that focus on racial and ethnic disparities in health:

  MCH Organizations Database. Lists over 2,000 government, professional, and voluntary organizations involved in MCH activities, primarily at a national level. See the list, Culturally competent services, for organizations that provide information on cultural competence, culturally competent services, and minority health. Lists are also available for sources of foreign-language materials and Spanish-language materials. For organizations that provide health information for specific minority groups, search the database by typing the name of the group (e.g., Asian Americans, Blacks, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders) in the keyword field of the database search form.

  MCH Projects Database. Comprises an online catalog of projects funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). MCHB funds several projects that address racial and ethnic disparities in health. To identify them, enter the term "minority groups" in the simple search field of the database search form and select Status: Active. Several final reports from these projects are available online and include

  • Assessment of enhanced prenatal services by women of diverse ethnic groups in Medicaid managed care. (2003).
    
    
  • Maternal health and pregnancy outcomes among Hispanics. (2003).