The Office of Minority Health Update Linda Thomas, M.Ed. Director

Vision To work in partnership with Oklahoma’s racial and ethnic communities to improve health outcomes. Mission To improve the health of racial and ethnic populations through the development of health policies and programs that help to eliminate health disparities.

Staff Linda Thomas, Director Dedric Anderson, Program Coordinator Shu-Chuan Lin, Epidemiologist Sarahi Dambold, Interpreter Jose Munoz, Interpreter

Goals and Objectives Increase racial and ethnic minority health access through:  Policy Development and Systems change  Workforce Development  Health related campaigns

2008 Continuation Projects  Oklahoma Plan to Improve Minority Health  Violence Prevention Programs  Regional Strategic Planning Conversations  Governor’s Task Force on Elimination of Health Disparities

Medical Interpreter Trainings

 Provides an overview of the purpose and roles of a medical interpreter  Practical review of code of ethics  Standards of practice  Skills building role plays

Oklahoma 2008 Regional Trainings Beaver; November Tahlequah; December 4-5 Lawton; January Oklahoma City; March Oklahoma City; February 2-3 Oklahoma 2009 Regional Trainings Enid; August Lawton; August 31-September 1 McAlester; August 24-25

2009 Initiatives

February 2009 Community Chat, Tulsa A series of four meetings, serving as a forum where the community can voice racial and ethnic minority health concerns and develop local solutions to local problems. Fifty people attended the initial event in February Upcoming meetings TBA.

Regional Minority Health Councils (Located in Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast Oklahoma) Purpose: To help prioritize concerns through regional minority councils. Activities:  Gather information,  Assess available resources,  Conduct a gap analysis, and  Through a collaborative process address information obtained through the process.

2009 OSDH Program Area Assessment A Needs Assessment was conducted with Service Chiefs and/or key staff, to determine service areas who needed assistance with racial and ethnic minority populations.

Criteria Programs where racial and ethnic minorities were disproportionally affected or programs that needed assistance accessing their target group were selected. Considerations:  Staffing,  Access to the population, and  Cultural competency and understanding of the cultural norms and values.

Participating Services Maternal & Child Health Immunization Chronic Disease Family Support Disease & Prevention Service WIC Services Health Equity & Resource Opportunity Tobacco Prevention HIV/STD Service Training Education and Development

2009 Maternal & Child Health Initiative

Infant Mortality Improving Infant Outcomes Campaign African American Workgroup Members are clergy, elected officials, and leaders within the African- American community. Members meet to discuss infant mortality topics and to strategize and explore options to help their community address infant mortality issues.

April 2009 “A Healthy Baby Begins with Me” Baby Shower

Over 200 high-risk females and males attended the event. The baby shower was a non-traditional approach to help expectant parents, grand- parents and prospective parents (women and men) respond to infant mortality and well-baby care issues. “A Health Baby Begins with Me” Baby Shower

September/October 2009 Focus Groups To assess what racial and ethnic minority populations (African American, Hispanic, and Native American) know, need to know and how they learn about pregnancy health.

Early 2010 A Healthy Baby Tool Kit The toolkit is designed to assist with the development of a community baby shower. Includes a checklist of partners to invite, resources for donations, and a technical assistance guide.

Medical Interpreter Trainings 2008 Cultural Competency Trainings OU College of Public Health 2009 Cultural Competency Trainings OSDH Training and Education Development Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) for Health Care Cultural Competency & LEP Trainings

Office of Minority Health Oklahoma State Department of Health 1000 NE 10 th Oklahoma City, OK Questions?