Minority Health Month Announcement By Barbara Ward, Director Center for Minority Veterans The Center for Minority Veterans, and the VHA Office of Health Equity would like to announce that April is Minority Health Month. During April, we are requesting that VHA facilities highlight actions that are being taken to eliminate health disparities, and VA’s role in this initiative. The 2015 Theme for Minority Health Month is, “30 Years of Advancing Health Equity | The Heckler Report: A Force for Ending Health Disparities in America.” The VA remains committed to highlighting prevention strategies and actions leading to health equity as outlined by the Heckler Report. Attached to this announcement you will find links with information covering illnesses prevalent among minority populations and initiatives in place to end health disparities, PDF files with suggested posters for display, an overview of the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP)-including information on disparities, funded projects, and resources. We also provide information on various training programs related to health equity and cultural competency. We ask you to celebrate Minority Health Month by: Posting flyers/fact sheets in your facility Sharing the links for review by veterans and VA staff Displaying your local research initiatives during the month via table displays and videos. We thank you in advance for your ongoing support, as we celebrate Minority Health Month, and for your efforts to promote the health of our Nation’s Veterans.

Here are links for resources from National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention that can be accessed online, printed out from website:  The nine Healthy Living messages can be accessed from this page: (There is one for Manage Stress, Be Safe: Prevent Self-harm, Limit Alcohol, and Be Tobacco Free, among others.)  Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: m.asp m.asp  High Blood Pressure:  High Cholesterol: Common diseases that are prevalent among minority Veterans Diabetes Cancer Stroke Cardiovascular Minority Health Month April 2015 “30 Years of Advancing Health Equity -The Heckler Report: A Force for Ending Health Disparities in America”

Taking Aspirin for Men: Men.asp Men.asp Taking Aspirin for Women: Managing your weight: MOVE!® handouts: (many handouts on this page) Other tobacco cessation resources are available from the Office of Public Health: Veterans Health Library (online): Has a search function where patients can look for more information on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc. There are health sheets that can be printed. HealtheLiving Assessment (HLA): An online only health risk assessment where patients answer a set of questions and then get a report of their specific health risks, based on their answers. These include risks for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancers, and stroke. People need to have a basic My HealtheVet account, but not an authenticated one. Minority Health Month April 2015 “30 Years of Advancing Health Equity -The Heckler Report: A Force for Ending Health Disparities in America”

VA Learning University TMS Center for Minority Veterans MVPC Extracting Demographic Census Data (Recorded Webinar Training ) VA Learning University TMS Center for Minority Veterans MVPC Simple Data Analysis and Outreach Execution (Recorded Webinar Training) Minority Health Month April 2015 “30 Years of Advancing Health Equity -The Heckler Report: A Force for Ending Health Disparities in America”

Center for Health, Equity, Research and Promotion - (CHERP)  Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) – Overview, Disparities, & Resources   CHERP Funded Research Activities Minority Health Month April 2015 “30 Years of Advancing Health Equity -The Heckler Report: A Force for Ending Health Disparities in America”