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Using
Veterans’ Stories to Promote Health Equity and Reduce Disparities
Thursday, February 23, 2017
3:00 – 4:00 PM EST
Event Description
The current session will highlight actions that the Office of Health Equity is undertaking with partners and stakeholders to advance tools to promote health equity and reduce disparities for vulnerable Veterans. Speakers will discuss the development of a series of patient stories to reduce hypertension related disparities and highlights from the intervention study on using the veteran experiences to change behavior. Also, speakers will discuss the development and use of virtual patient cases to assist clinicians, non-clinicians, educators, Veterans, and stakeholders in understanding the importance of assessing, and increasing competency, of health equity issues for Veterans
Presenters
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Thomas K. Houston, MD
Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Bedford, MA
- Uchenna S. Uchendu, MD
Chief Officer, Officer of Health Equity, Washington, DC
Registration
Register by visiting https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6757910006026241027. Visit http://www.va.gov/HEALTHEQUITY/Tools.asp for more information on health equity
related tools to reduce health disparities for vulnerable Veterans.
The Office of Health Equity is delighted that our latest virtual training modules on social determinants has gained the interest of MedEdPORTAL. The Virtual Patient Training Modules were included in MedEdPORTAL’s February 1, 2017 news and updates. MedEdPORTAL is a leading repository for medical education materials and resources that can be accessed free of charge.
The Virtual Patient Training Modules are intended to assist clinicians, non-clinicians, Veterans, and stakeholders in understanding the importance of assessing, and increasing competency, of health equity issues for Veterans. Training scenarios for each module are based on healthcare experiences of Veterans collected by OHE over the years. Users will hear the voices of vulnerable Veterans, learn about their experiences, and use this knowledge to reflect on everyday interactions between staff and vulnerable patients. The concepts covered in the modules are applicable to Veterans and non-Veterans.
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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.
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Description:
Provides an interactive example of incorporating social determinants of health
in the delivery of patient-focused care.
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Visit https://www.va.gov/healthequity/tools.asp#virtual to view the modules.
Uchenna S. Uchendu, MD,
Chief Officer of the VHA Office of Health Equity discussed the patient centered
medical home and health equity at the Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) Military
Health System Speaker Series
on January 25, 2017.
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/L_HjSVlv3Hc
The learning objectives of Dr. Uchendu's talk were to:
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Summarize the key elements of the VA Patient Centered Medical Home model - the Patient Aligned Care Team;
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Highlight the connection between Veteran- Centric Care and the Social Determinants of Health; and
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Illustrate How to Cast the Health Equity Lens on a Routine Check-up visit in Primary Care.
The 2017 MHS Speaker Series is intended to drive performance higher by sharing knowledge and best practices across the MHS. Attendees will be able to apply the information learned during the speaker series to the work they do.
Racial/ethnic
differences in contraceptive preferences, beliefs, and self-efficacy among
women veterans
“Women veterans’ contraceptive
preferences, beliefs and self-efficacy varied by race/ethnicity, which may help
explain observed racial/ethnic disparities in contraceptive use and unintended
pregnancy. These differences underscore the need to elicit women’s individual
values and preferences when providing patient-centered contraceptive
counseling.”
Callegari LS, Zhao X, Schwarz EB, et
al. (2017). Racial/ethnic differences in contraceptive preferences, beliefs,
and self-efficacy among women veterans. American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002937816464896.
Racial/ethnic
differences in initiation of and engagement with addictions treatment among
patients with alcohol use disorders in the Veterans Health Administration
“After accounting for facility- and
patient-level characteristics, Black and Hispanic patients with AUD were more
likely than Whites to initiate specialty addictions treatment, and Black
patients were more likely than Whites to engage. Research is needed to
understand underlying mechanisms and whether differences in initiation of and
engagement with care influence health outcomes.”
Bensley KM, Harris AH, Gupta S, et al.
(2017). Racial/ethnic differences in initiation of and engagement with
addictions treatment among patients with alcohol use disorders in the Veterans
Health Administration. Journal of
Substance Abuse Treatment, 73, 27-34. Available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740547216304573.
Impact of social
determinants of health on medical conditions among transgender Veterans
“Social
determinants are prevalent factors in transgender patients’ lives, exhibiting
strong associations with medical conditions. Documenting social determinants in
electronic health records can help providers to identify and address these
factors in treatment goals.”
Blosnich
JR, Marsiglio MC, Dichter ME, et al. (2017). Impact of Social Determinants of
Health on Medical Conditions Among Transgender Veterans. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379716307061.
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