What's new in the VHA Office of Health Equity?

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Announcements

December 2, 2016

Snapshot of Fiscal Year 2016 Accomplishments in Veteran Health Equity

ICARE Mosiac

The Office of Health Equity is delighted to share some of our accomplishments over the past fiscal year in championing health equity for Veterans. Here are a few highlights:

  • Solicited and Supported facilities to participate in the USH VA Priorities Best Practices Consortium by submitting health equity efforts.
  • Responded to the Commission on Care recommendations in support of health equity.
  • Launched new communication tools, including external website and listserv to raise awareness of health equity.
  • Contributed to the Presidential Open Data Initiative with the public release of hepatitis C virus disparities data.
  • Participated in engagement meetings to further health equity issues for Veterans
  • Leveraged online training options with virtual trainings through the Focus on Health Equity and Action Cyberseminar series and virtual patient cultural competency training modules
  • Authored new manuscripts highlighting best practices for ending homelessness and improving care for vulnerable Veterans
  • Participated in the National Access Stand Down efforts to reduce Veteran wait times
  • Published the comprehensive National Veteran Health Equity Report

Visit http://www.va.gov/HEALTHEQUITY/docs/OHE_FY16_Accomplishments_12022016.pdf for the complete summary of FY2016 accomplishments.


Latest Updates from the National Veteran Health Equity Report

NVHER Cover

The National Veteran Health Equity Report continues to attract attention. The Office of Health Equity is pleased to announce the latest endorsement of the report from Darrell G. Kirch, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Also, the report is now listed on the Rural Health Information Hub (https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/resources/8218) and the National Library of Medicine (at National Institute of Health) Health Services Research (HSR) Information Central website (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hsrinfo/datasites.html). According to the HSR website, “HSR Information Central is not an index of all health services resources on the Web. Rather, it contains selective links representing a sample of available information. Items are selected for their quality, authority of authorship, uniqueness, and appropriateness.”

The National Veteran Health Equity Report is designed to provide basic comparative information on the sociodemographics, utilization patterns and rates of diagnosed health conditions among groups over which the VHA Office of Health Equity has responsibility. Visit http://www.va.gov/healthequity/NVHER.asp for more information on the report and related updates.

Stay tuned for the January Focus on Health Equity and Action Cyberseminar that will focus on the state of vulnerable Veteran health care at the VHA.


Veteran Health Equity Cultural Competency Training Modules Now Available Publicly

OHE released two training modules to assist clinicians, non-clinicians, Veterans, and stakeholders in understanding the importance of assessing, and increasing competency, of health equity issues for Veterans.” The trainings are available on the VA Talent Management System (TMS) for VA employees and VHA TRAIN for both VA employees and the general public.

Veteran faces

Determinants of Health and Healthcare for All Employees

Description: Provides an awareness of Veteran populations that are at risk for health disparities, factors that put them at risk, and what you can do within your area of influence to move toward attaining the highest level of health for Veterans.

TMS | TRAIN

Lucille

Casting the Health Equity Lens on Routine Check-up: Lucille F. 54

Description: Provides an interactive example of incorporating social determinants of health in the delivery of patient-focused care.

TMS | TRAIN

Please visit http://www.va.gov/HEALTHEQUITY/Tools.asp for a listing of Veteran related health equity tools.


Cross-Sector Partnerships to Achieve Health Equity for Veterans

Dr. Uchenna S. Uchendu, Chief Officer of the Office of Health Equity, recently participated in a roundtable panel series exploring real-world efforts to eliminate health disparities and improve population health outcomes for vulnerable populations. Dr. Uchendu’s presentation focused on efforts to improve health equity for Veterans. She was joined by a panel of other eminent voices who discussed critical health equity issues. The series was co-sponsored by the Westat Center on Health Disparities & Health Equity Research and the Rockville Institute. Visit https://www.westat.com/about-us/presentations/webinar/cross-sector-innovations-achieve-health-equity for the video archive of presentation and information on other exciting presentations.


Office of Health Equity’s Kenneth T. Jones Selected for Leaders for Health Equity Fellowship

Kenneth T. Jones headshot

The Office of Health Equity would like to congratulate Kenneth T. Jones, PhD for being selected for a new fellowship sponsored by George Washington University Health Workforce Institute. The year-long Leaders for Health Equity Fellowship program is designed to develop a network of global leaders of health professionals who are prepared to reduce health disparities in vulnerable populations. Dr. Jones was one of 16 health professionals from the United States and other countries (Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Brazil, and the Philippines) selected for the highly competitive Fellowship program.

As a part of the Fellowship, Dr. Jones will focus on identifying and developing VA-centric tools that allow Veterans, VA employees, and other stakeholders to assess health equity as a strategic priority at VA facilities consistent with VA priorities such as MyVA and Commission on Care recommendations. The official announcement is available at http://publichealth.gwu.edu/content/gw-health-workforce-institute-announces-inaugural-leaders-health-equity-fellows.