THE OFFICE OF HEALTH EQUITY NEWSLETTER
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OHE Director Recognized as 40 Under 40 Leader
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Congratulations to Office of Health Equity Director
Dr. Lauren Powell
, for being selected as one of the National Minority Quality Forum’s “40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health.” As its name implies, this prestigious award honors only 40 individuals a year.
The 40 Under 40 Leaders in Minority Health Awards recognize young leaders in the United States who are making a difference in healthcare,health services research and health policy – differences that enhance the ability of the American health services delivery system to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse American general population.
The awards also recognize the potential of Dr. Powell and its other awardees to continue positively impacting minority communities. Dr. Powell will receive her award at a gala dinner April 17 in Washington, D.C. during the Congressional Black Caucus & National Minority Quality Forum’s Spring Health Braintrust meeting.
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National Minority Health Month to be Celebrated with
Movie Viewing of
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
with Facilitated Discussion
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The Office of Health Equity (OHE) recognizes April as National Minority Health Month in Virginia. To commemorate the event, the office will host a series of movie viewings of
The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, followed by a facilitated discussion led by
Dr. Lauren Powell and senior leadership.
The movie details the life and impact of Henrietta Lacks to science. The Henrietta Lacks story is an example of the exploitation of minorities in healthcare research, contributing to mistrust and continued health disparity in these populations.
During the 2018 Virginia General Assembly session, legislation passed to create the Henrietta Lacks Commission, a group tasked with creating a cancer research facility in Lacks’ name to be located in her hometown of Southern Virginia.
OHE will show the 2017 HBO film, starring Oprah Winfrey in parts over the course of four days, from
April 23- April 26.
Viewing Schedule:
- Part One: 11:30 am | Monday -Wednesday | 7th Floor Conference Room
- Part Two: 12:30 pm | Monday -Wednesday | 7th Floor Conference Room
- Full Movie and Discussion: Thursday | 11:30 am | Mezzanine
Please seek your supervisor’s approval prior to participation in this event.
The facilitated discussion will take place in the mezzanine conference room of the James Madison building on
Thursday, April 26 at 1:15 pm. Showings of the film and discussion will also be available via Polycom.
To register for the facilitated discussion and final viewing, please register via TRAIN with
TRAIN ID:
1076761
. Direct questions about the event to
Augustine Doe
at:
Augustine.Doe@vdh.virginia.gov
.
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Danville YHELI Students Tour North Carolina College
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Danville YHELI students recently explored higher education possibilities at a tour of North Carolina A&T State University. Through the coordination of Health Equity Specialist,
Augustine Doe and Program Manager,
Shani Gaylord, 38 students toured the university located in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Danville YHELI is now in its third year of the five-year grant-funded initiative at George Washington High School that focuses on improving on-time graduation rates. Danville has the lowest on-time graduation rate in Virginia. The program supports a cohort of 50 students that participate in programming activities intended to increase student engagement, ultimately graduate on time in 2020, and have better health outcomes.
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Real Talk: Bias in Medicine and Public Health
Facilitated by Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Norm Oliver and Dr. Lauren Powell
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Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Norman Oliver and Director, Dr. Lauren Powell co-facilitated a discussion about implicit bias in medicine and public health on March 8. The lunch time talk centered on how a patient is offered treatment based on an array of factors tied to race and prejudice. Both gave examples of how this bias affects minorities when encountering health care and how it leads to less favorable quality of care.
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Virginia P3 Partners with Alliance at the Beach Forum
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Virginia Partners in Prayer & Prevention (P3), Program Coordinator
Veronica Cosby attended the Interfaith Alliance at the Beach (IAB) 2018 Interfaith Forum in Virginia Beach March 15.
The Interfaith Alliance at the Beach (IAB) is a composed of faith-based communities, non-profit organizations, and city service providers working to address unmet needs and social justice issues through nonpartisan advocacy and initiatives. Over 150 congregations from Virginia Beach and surrounding attended the IAB 2018 Interfaith Forum.
Guest presenter,
Tracy Flaherty-Willmott, with OrgCode discussed “Discovering the Role of Faith, Hope and Service in an Era of Housing First”. IAB forums such as this provides the opportunity for faith and interfaith communities to network and connect with resources to further engage in the work they are doing in their congregation and communities.
IAB’s Chairperson,
Debra Grant is a Virginia P3 Community Health Champion. Virginia P3 Program engagement and collaboration with IAB is working together to enhance the capacity of faith and interfaith communities to strengthen the well-being of Virginia’s tidewater communities.
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Black Lives, Black Lungs: Joint Program with Health Equity and the Tobacco Control Unit
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The Tobacco Control Unit and the Office of Health Equity co-sponsored a Lunch and Learn session on February 26 to view and discuss the short documentary "Black Lives/Black Lungs."
“Black Lives/ Black Lungs” is a documentary that explores the history, marketing tactics and impact of the tobacco industry targeting African-Americans with menthol tobacco products.
Nearly 90 percent of all African-American smokers use menthol cigarettes, and 47,000 African-Americans die from smoking-related diseases each year.
Pictured
is (left) Rita Miller, Cessation Services Coordinator for the Tobacco Control Unit and (right) Dr. Lauren Powell, director of the Office of Health Equity, who co-facilitated the discussion.
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Bay Rivers Telehealth Alliance (BRTA) is named a Rural Health Community Champion for innovative efforts around the use of evidence-based models from U.S. Dept. of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Care Services Outreach Grant Program.
The Tappahannock-based BRTA
Bridges to Care Transitions project was built around a creative integration of three evidence-based models of care with Remote Patient Monitoring, in order to improve access and quality of rural health care among an older population with chronic illness and high rates of hospital re-admission: The Coleman Model®,
The Healthy IDEAS Model, and The Stanford Model for Chronic Disease Self-Management.
The ultimate goal of the
Bridges to Care Transitions project is to assist patients in developing chronic disease self-management skills to reduce unnecessary emergency department visits or hospitalizations, as well as to understand when to seek primary care. BRTA has created significant impact in improving health and healthcare access, quality, and affordability through its
Bridges to Care Transitions project. It is estimated that at least $919,200 in net savings has been achieved when taking into consideration the cost savings for in-patient care, transportation, personal care, and caregiver and community services.
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Pictured:
From left to right: Cathey Eades, Bay Aging; Donna Dittman Hale, Bay Rivers Telehealth Alliance;
Christine Jensen and Rick Jackson, Riverside Center for Excellence in Aging and Riverside Health System
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SORH FY2018 Grant Opportunity
The Virginia Department of Health Office of Health Equity (VDH-OHE) is pleased to announce the release of the FY2018 State Office of Rural Health (SORH) Grantee FY2018 Grant Round. The State Office of Rural Health uses HRSA federal funding to provide direct grants to:
- Public agencies, tribal organizations or private non-profit holding a 501(c)(3) tax-exemption in the Commonwealth of Virginia that is a designated rural service provider, Rural Health Clinic, Health Professional Shortage Area or Medically Underserved Area/Population.
- Encourage collaboration with local health departments and other organizations focusing on rural needs.
- Meet the needs of rural health communities and providers in the Commonwealth.
To start the grant process, applicants must submit a letter of intent to SORH Program Manager,
Ashley Clark at
Ashley.Clark@vdh.virginia.gov. Letters of intent are due
April 6, 2018 and are reviewed by SORH for eligibility. Once a confirmation email has been sent to applicants, the applicants may proceed with the application process and submit proper documentation by
April 16, 2018. Awards made for this round will be announced by
April 27, 2018, and projects will begin no earlier than
May 28, 2018 to conclude by June 30, 2018.
Applicants must specify in the letter of intent if they would like to be considered for extended funding for FY2018 through June 30, 2019. Subsequent funding may be available for FY19. Any organization approved for funding in FY 2018 must submit proper documentation for continued funding by January 10,
2019. Before submitting a letter of intent, we encourage you to contact SORH if you have questions or need more information in selecting a program area. We are happy to assist you. General questions about this grant round or your eligibility may be directed to
Ashley Clark, SORH Program Manager at
Ashley.clark@vdh.virginia.gov
or
804-864-7432. We look forward to your participation.
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2018 NHSC Scholarship Program
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National Health Service Corps Scholarship (NHSC)
Application Resources
NHSC Scholarship Application Webinar, April 12, 3 - 4:30 pm ET
Dial-In: 1-888-469-1601
Passcode: 8126707
NHSC Scholarship Application Q&A Session, Thursday, April 26, 3-4:30 pm ET
Dial-In: 1-888-469-1602
Passcode: 8126706
Applications will be accepted through
Thursday, May 10, 7:30 pm. ET
For the full applicant's guide, including eligibility, visit:
NHSC Guide
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