http://www.altfutures.com/draproject/index.php/site/index/ en yarikan@altfutures.org Copyright 2010 2010-09-22T19:11:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/scenarios/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/scenarios/#When:18:11:00Z DRA Scenarios Report 08 06: Health Equity 2028 Scenarios Reports 2010-09-22T18:11:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/navigator_survey/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/navigator_survey/#When:12:05:00Z The American Cancer Society and the DRA Project have joined forces with academic partners at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Denver Health and the Colorado Patient Navigator Training Program to create a national survey of patient navigators. The purpose of the survey is to 1) understand what types of activities patient navigators do in their daily work, 2) learn about the types of patient navigator programs that exist around the country, and 3) be able to better describe the scope and number of navigation programs in the country.  IAF would like to invite you to get involved in the survey!  If you are a patient navigator, or know someone who works in the patient navigation field, we would like you to take a few moments to look at the survey at the link below.  You will also find an informational sheet with contact information regarding this important national effort.  The survey is intended for all navigators from around the nation, working with any type of health condition (cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc). www.patientnavigatorsurvey.com Any additional questions can be addressed to the Principal Investigator for the study, Dr. Elizabeth Calhoun, 312-355-1572 or via email at .  You can also contact the Institute for Alternative Futures, at 206-491-6205 or via email at or Angelina Esparza, Director of the ACS Patient Navigator Program, at 404-329-7776 or via email at .  2008-10-01T12:05:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/newsletters/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/newsletters/#When:14:02:00Z The DRA Project releases a newsletter 2-6 times a year. The DRA Project Newsletter provides a wealth of information for those concerned about eliminating health inequities. If you’re interested in receiving the DRA Project Newsletter, please contact us at futurist@altfutures.org. 2008-04-30T14:02:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/dra_portfolio/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/dra_portfolio/#When:14:01:00Z In 2006, the DRA Project reviewed the literature on disparities, considered what might be the most important disparity reducing advances, and developed forecasts for key areas related to disparity reducing advances.  Then the DRA Project Partners chose several efforts to pursue.  Four of these efforts seek to accelerate advances in public health, with four others in health care.  These are described below.  In addition the DRA Project is promoting tobacco control, following emerging cancer biomonitoring developments, and working to have advances in the biomonitoring field be disparity reducing. PUBLIC HEALTH EFFORTS Refocusing on the Social Determinants of Health: The work of the DRA Project has shown the importance of focusing “upstream” on the determinants of health and disparities.  You can see our DRA Project Report on the “most important”? advances here on the DRA website.  The DRA Project has partnered with the Prevention Institute to produce two reports about refocusing on the social determinants of health: The Imperative of Reducing Health Disparities through Prevention: Challenges, Implications, and Opportunities and Laying the Groundwork for a Movement to Reduce Health Disparities.  Using the Prevention Institute reports as a focus, the DRA Project stimulated a national design meeting to press forward the movement forward.  DRA Partners are also creating awareness of the social determinants of health.  For example, the DRA Project is supporting a public impact campaign using the PBS miniseries on health disparities that is currently on the air.  You can find out more about the miniseries and the public impact campaign at Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? Lessons from National Healthy Eating and Active Living Programs: Healthy eating and active living (HEAL) are the keys to preventing obesity as well as health disparities in diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  The DRA Project worked with The California Endowment’s Healthy Eating Active Communities Program, REACH U.S., Kaiser Permanente’s Community Health Initiatives, The Joint Center’s Health Policy Institute’s program - Place Matters: Addressing the Root Causes of Health Disparities, YMCA Activate America, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living by Design to identify and disseminate lessons learned from these programs, particularly in relation to reducing health disparities.  The Report, Using Healthy Eating and Active Living Initiatives to Reduce Health Disparities, identifies five key strategic insights for making these initiatives work with low income communities and communities of color. Obesity Prevention in Schools: Schools are an important setting to encourage good health and to prevent obesity.  There are a number of school based efforts working in this area. One is The City Year Detroit Project using teams of AmeriCorps volunteers to work with Detroit’s public schools to enhance their systems for nutrition, physical activity, the health clinic, the physical environment, health of the teachers and staff and involvement of parents.  The DRA Project is working to promote awareness of this type of school based wellness or obesity prevention opportunity.  In 2008, the DRA Project will also release an illustrative survey of over forty school focused programs in this field. REACH U.S. Lessons: The Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) is CDC’s cornerstone initiative aimed at eliminating disparities in health status experienced by ethnic minority populations.  REACH programs have shown that health disparities can be reduced by engaging local leaders, building community partnerships, recognizing cultural influences, creating sustainable programs, leveraging resources, and empowering individuals and communities.  The DRA Project is working with CDC to develop and promote the lessons from REACH U.S. HEALTH CARE FOCUSED EFFORTS Expanded Care Model: One of the most important ways to reduce health disparities is to have low income and marginalized populations receive quality health care including preventative services.  In US health care, among the most significant quality improving activities have been the Health Disparities Collaboratives in health centers sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).  HRSA is evolving the approach of these efforts and the chronic care model they used from a single disease focus (e.g. diabetes, heart disease or cancer) to a focus on the whole person and the whole systems of the centers in the “expanded care model.” The DRA Project is working with HRSA to elaborate and promote the expanded care model, including the integration of social determinants, community conditions and complementary and alternative care. Integrative Primary Care: Many low income and minority communities use complementary or alternative approaches (CAM).  Many community health centers do provide some CAM services.  It is likely that the inclusion of evidence based methods of complementary and alternative care could reduce health disparities by making care more accessible, culturally appropriate and affordable.  The DRA Project is working with the Samueli Institute, HRSA and other DRA Partners to look for ways to integrate complementary and alternative methods of care into primary care for low income and minority populations.  A major focus will be the role that evidence based CAM options can play in the Expanded Care Model.  A Scoping meeting was held in partnership with the Samueli Institute on April 28, 2008. Patient Navigation: One source of health disparities is the inability of patients to navigate and appropriately access health care treatment, particularly for diseases with complex treatment regimens, such as cancer.  In recent years there have been many significant experiments with “navigators” for patients.  The DRA Project is working with the many DRA Partners and others currently running patient navigation projects to focus on ways to understand current navigator activity and outcomes, make navigation more sustainable, and consider how emerging information technology, particularly “virtual navigation” can assist patients and navigators to be more effective.  The DRA Project has published a Patient Navigation Program Overview. Biomonitoring: New technology for monitoring patients in their homes and in their daily routines offers promise in conducting research, preventing disease, screening for risk factors and monitoring treatment or progression of disease.  Such monitoring, combined with coaching, has been shown to be effective in some low income populations in managing and improving outcomes of chronic disease, including diabetes, heart disease and asthma.  The DRA Project will work with community health centers and other providers interested in developing these applications to spread knowledge and increase the usability and effectiveness of these biomonitoring approaches for low income communities and their health care providers.  With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, forecasts were developed for biomonitoring potentials as well as recommendations for making these advances disparity reducing, often by shortening their diffusion time into low income populations and their health care providers (see the BFP Final Report).  The DRA Project is working with the Commission to End Health Care Disparities to summarize and promote this technology strategy. In addition to the eight working efforts listed above, the DRA Project will continue to monitor and promote other disparity reducing advances including tobacco control, and advances in modeling and mapping; and holding Disparities Foresight Briefings on Capitol Hill to inform the policy community of key developments.  See the results of our Briefing on Reducing Health Disparities Faster. 2008-04-30T14:01:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/welcome_partners/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/welcome_partners/#When:19:00:00Z The DRA Project relies heavily on our network of Sponsors and Partners for our success. We would like to welcome Center for Integrative Medicine in Public Health (CIMPH) as our latest partner. CIMPH is a diverse team of dedicated professionals representing a wide range of specialties including clinical and public health practice, research, epidemiology, health disparities, education and agriculture that share a common interest in defining and developing the intersection of integrative medicine with public health. You can see all 69 members on our DRA Partner Network section. 2008-03-25T19:00:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/briefings/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/briefings/#When:17:47:00Z The Social Determinants of Health, and Health in All Policies: The DRA Project in conjunction with the Congressional Black Congress Health Brain Trust held its fourth DRA Foresight Briefing on October 20th, 2009 in Washington, D.C.  You can also read the Hill_Briefing_Summary. DRA Foresight Briefing Handouts Speaker Biographies DRA Project Description The State of the Health Equity Movement Health Equity Recommendations Selected Overview Building Health Impact Assessment (HIA) Capacity: A Strategy for Congress and Government Agencies Health and Equity in All Policies Equity in Transportation Policy Summary Activist Group Measures Pollution When Government Doesn’t NIH Funds Largest Long-term Study of Health and Disease in Hispanic/Latino Populations Good Health Counts: A 21st Century Approach to Health and Community for California Joint Center: Place Matters SuFamilia: The National Hispanic Family Health Helpline Vive tu vida!: Get Up! Get Moving!! The Economic Burden of Health Inequalities in the United States DRA Foresight Briefing Presentations Introduction to the DRA Foresight Briefing by Clem Bezold Health and Equity in All Policies by Larry Cohen Building Stronger Communities for Better Health by Brian Smedley Beyond Health Reform:Aligning Federal Policy with Good Health Policy by Adolph Falcon Health Equity: Focusing on Health in All Policies: The DRA Project in conjunction with the Congressional Black Congress Health Brain Trust held its third DRA Foresight Briefing on February 25th, 2009 in Washington, D.C. You can also read the Hill Briefing Summary. DRA Foresight Briefing Handouts Speaker Biographies Most Important Disparity Reducing Advances Toward A Policy-Relevant Analysis Of Geographic And Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Child Health Reducing Inequities in Health and Safety through Prevention DRA Foresight Briefing Presentations Introduction to the DRA Foresight Briefing by Clem Bezold CBC Health Braintrust Priorities and Benchmarks by Congresswoman Donna Christensen Promoting Health Equity: Taking 2 Steps Back to the Social Determinants of Health by Larry Cohen Commission to Build a Healthier America by David Williams Housing and Health Disparities by Dolores Acevedo-Garcia Building Stronger Communities for Better Health by Brian D. Smedley The Health Disparities Collaboratives: Enhancing Quality and Reducing Disparities: The DRA Project in conjunction with the Congressional Hispanic Congress held its second DRA Foresight Briefing on November 24th, 2008 in Washington, D.C. More than 100 Congressional staff, NGO representatives and academics attended the standing room only event. DRA Foresight Briefing Handouts Speaker Biographies A Comprehensive Health Home - Using the Expanded Care Model of The Collaboratives America’s Health Centers Health Disparities Fact Sheet DRA Foresight Briefing Presentations Introduction to the Health Disparities Collaborative Briefing by Clem Bezold National Association of Community Health Centers by David Stevens The Urban Health Plan by Paloma Hernandez Beaufort Jasper Hampton CHS by Roland Gardner Reducing Health Disparities Faster: Addressing Social Determinants of Health: The DRA Project in conjunction with the Congressional Hispanic Congress held its first DRA Foresight Briefing on December 6th, 2007 in Washington, D.C. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation has graciously hosted a webcast video, slides and a transcript of the DRA Foresight Briefing here on their website. The handouts at the briefing can be found below. DRA Foresight Briefing Handouts DRA Project Short Description Biographies of Briefing Speakers Promoting Healthy Eating and Active Living Programs Laying the Groundwork for a Movement to Reduce Health Disparities Voices from REACH Communities Reducing Health Disparities Through Prevention Most Important Disparity Reducing Advances DRA Foresight Briefing Presentations Introduction to the DRA Project by Clem Bezold Changing Public Health Practice by Rosemarie Henson A Look at the Chicago Southeast Diabetes Community Action Coalition by Amparo Castillo Addressing the Social Determinants of Health by Larry Cohen The Healthy Black Family Project by Stephen Thomas 2008-03-25T17:47:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/priority_areas/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/priority_areas/#When:17:42:00Z Eight Priority Areas for Disparity Reducing Advances IAF is working with its network of partners on 8 priority efforts to reduce health disparities. These 8 areas, listed below, were selected at the September 2006 meeting of the DRA Project in Alexandria, Virginia. The DRA network of partners meets twice a year in April and September to discuss new approaches to reducing health disparities. If you are interested in becoming a DRA Partner, please contact futurist@atlfutures.org. Public Health/Community Based Prevention 1. Focus on Social Determinants of Health 2. Draw Lessons from National Healthy Eating and Active Living Programs 3. Obesity Prevention in Schools 4. REACH U.S. (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Public Health) Lessons Health Care Focused Efforts 5. Care Model 6. Integrative Primary Care 7. Consumer-Patient Navigation 8. Continuous Passive Biomonitoring 2008-03-25T17:42:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/meeting_summaries/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/meeting_summaries/#When:17:26:00Z DRA Partner Meeting Summaries April 2006: DRA Partners Meeting Summary Sept. 2006: DRA Partners Meeting Summary April 2007: DRA Partners Meeting Summary Sept. 2007: DRA Partners Meeting Summary March 2008: DRA Partners Meeting Summary Sept. 2008: DRA Partners Meeting Summary Reports 2008-03-25T17:26:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/committee_reports/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/committee_reports/#When:17:25:00Z DRA Committee Reports Report 06 01: The Imperative of Reducing Health Disparities through Prevention Report 06 02: Cell Phones and Health Disparities Report 06 03: Enhanced Consumer Navigation Support Report 06 04: Early Detection of Cancer Using Blood Testing Report 06 05: Automated Control of Insulin Levels Report 06 06: Continuous Passive Biomonitoring for Health and Prevention Report 06 07: Community and National Biomonitoring to Support Upstream Change Report 06 08: Most Important Disparity Reducing Advances in US Healthcare Public Health Report 08 07: Commission to End Health Care Disparities Paper on Biomonitoring Disparities Reports 2008-03-25T17:25:00-05:00 http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/dra_one_page_summaries/ http://www.altfutures.org/draproject/index.php/site/dra_one_page_summaries/#When:17:25:00Z DRA One Page Summaries Summary 06 01: The Imperative of Reducing Health Disparities through Prevention Summary 06 02: Cell Phones and Reducing Health Disparities Summary 06 03: Enhanced Consumer Navigation Support Summary 06 04: Early Detection of Cancer Using Blood Testing Summary 06 05: Automated Control of Insulin Levels Summary 06 06: Continuous Passive Biomonitoring for Health and Prevention Summary 06 07: Community and National Biomonitoring to Support Upstream Change Summary 06 08: Most Important Disparity Reducing Advances in US Healthcare Public Health Summary 06 14: The Biomonitoring Futures Project Final Report and Recommendations Summary 07 01: Laying the Groundwork for a Movement to Reduce Health Disparities Summary 07 02: Patient Navigator Program Overview Summary 08 01: Using Healthy Eating and Active Living Initiatives to Reduce Health Disparities Summary 08 02: Background on Biomonitoring & Disparities Summary 08 04: School Based Wellness Programs Summary 09 01: The State of the Health Equity Movement Reports 2008-03-25T17:25:00-05:00