Please
join the Office of Health Equity for the March 2017 Focus on Health Equity and
Action Cyberseminar titled, “Incorporating Social
Determinants of Health into VHA Patient Care and Electronic Medical Records.” Event description
and registration information is below.
Incorporating Social
Determinants of Health into VHA Patient Care and Electronic Medical Records
March 30, 2017
3:00 – 4:00 pm
Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2964856574755258370
Event
Description
Social
determinants of health is a useful concept for describing the availability and
distribution of economic, social, and physical conditions that impact patient’s
health and the health care system. The current Focus on Health Equity and
Action Cyberseminar session will 1) describe social determinants of health and
how these determinants influence VHA patient care; 2) present an example from
the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team program and their use of social
determinants of health to improve patient care for homeless Veterans and their
families; and 3) discuss VA data sources and industry best practices to
understand and incorporate social determinants of health into the electronic
medical record and research activities.
Confirmed
Speakers
-
Tom
Garin, DPA
VA Office of Enterprise Integration,
Washington, DC
-
Thomas
P. O’Toole, MD
National Center on Homelessness Among
Veterans, Providence VA Medical Center
-
Uchenna
S. Uchendu, MD
Office of
Health Equity, Washington, DC
Background
Resources
-
O’Toole
TP, Johnson EE, Aiello R, Kane V, Pape L. Tailoring Care to Vulnerable
Populations by Incorporating Social Determinants of Health: the Veterans Health
Administration’s “Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team” Program. Prev Chronic Dis 2016;13:150567. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd13.150567.
-
United
States Department of Labor. Consumer Expenditure Survey. https://www.bls.gov/cex/home.htm.
Registration
Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2964856574755258370
Visit
the Office of Health Equity website at http://www.va.gov/healthequity/ for more details
about Veteran health equity issues, VA’s strategic plan to achieve health
equity for Veterans (Health Equity Action Plan), and to learn more about the Focus on Health
Equity and Action Cyberseminar series.
The
Department of Veterans Affairs recently released Minority Veterans Report:
Military Service History and VA Benefit Utilization Statistics. The new report,
according to the authors, is the first comprehensive VA report to chronicle the
history of racial and ethnic minorities in the military and as Veterans. The
report highlights social and demographic characteristics of minority Veterans
in 2014 and illustrates how these American heroes have used major benefits and
services offered by the VA.
The new
report will be featured for April’s Focus on Health
Equity and Action Cyberseminar series just in time for National Minority Health
Month. A description and registration link for April’s session is below.
Military Service
History and VA Benefit Utilization for Minority Veterans
Thursday, April 27,
2017
3:00 – 4:00 pm EST
Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5353823763119229187
Session
Description
VHA Office
of Health Equity is pleased to partner with the VA Center for Minority Veterans
for April’s session in observation of National Minority Health Month. April’s Focus on Health
Equity and Action Cyberseminar session spotlights the recently released Minority
Veterans Report: Military Service History and VA Benefit Utilization Statistics
report from the VA Data Governance and Analytics office. This new report
increases our understanding of racial and ethnic minority Veterans, their use
of VA benefits and services, as well as the impact of military service on their
lives post-military. April’s session will 1) discuss the new report and the
role of social and economic determinants of health; 2) highlight VA actions to
advance health equity for minority Veterans; and 3) explore additional ways to
best to serve these American Heroes.
Confirmed
Speakers
-
Tom
Garin, DPA
Director, Statistics and Analytics Service,
VA Office of Enterprise Integration, Washington, DC
-
Barbara
Ward
Director, VA Center for Minority Veterans,
Washington, DC
-
Uchenna
S. Uchendu, MD
Chief Officer, Office of Health Equity,
Washington, DC
Background
Resources
Department of
Veterans Affairs. (2017). Minority Veterans Report: Military Service History
and VA Benefit Utilization Statistics. Data Governance and Analytics,
Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. Available online at https://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/SpecialReports/Minority_Veterans_Report.pdf.
Veterans serving in different periods of service or military eras may experience
unique health concerns. The Vietnam
Era Health Retrospective Observational Study (VE-HEROeS) is a large-scale survey study on the health
and well-being of Vietnam-era Veterans. It is the first study to
comprehensively evaluate the physical health and well-being of Vietnam Veterans
since the Centers for Disease Control completed a series of studies on the
physical and reproductive health of Army Vietnam Veterans in the late 1980s.
Approximately 54,000 scientifically selected
individuals, including Vietnam-era Veterans and a comparison group of similarly
aged Americans without military experience, have been invited to participate.
VA sent out initial invitations for this study in November 2016, and reminder
invitations in early February to individuals who had not yet completed their
survey.
The Office of Health Equity is encouraging all Vietnam-era Veterans who received an
invitation to participate in this very important study. If you are among those
invited, or know of a Vietnam Veteran or other invited participant who received
an invitation, please encourage them to participate in this survey.
More participation means more data for
researchers to learn about the current health of Vietnam-era Veterans, and more
knowledge to help VA care for these Veterans. Because each individual invited
to this study represents other people with similar characteristics, researchers
are not able to accept volunteers for this study.
Visit https://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/heroes/index.asp to learn more about this study. Also, take a moment
to familiarize yourself with the time frames for each period of
service/military era by visiting https://www.va.gov/HEALTHEQUITY/Tools.asp#pos.
|
 The Obesity Epidemic in the Veterans Health Administration: Prevalence Among Key Populations of Women and Men Veterans
Authors: Jessica Y. Breland, Ciaran S. Phibbs, Katherine J. Hoggatt, Donna L. Washington, Jimmy Lee, Sally Haskell, Uchenna S. Uchendu, Fay S. Saechao, Laurie C. Zephyrin, Susan M. Frayne
BACKGROUND: Most US adults are overweight or obese. Understanding differences in obesity prevalence across subpopulations could facilitate the development and dissemination of weight management services.
OBJECTIVES: To inform Veterans Health Administration (VHA) weight management initiatives, we describe obesity prevalence among subpopulations of VHA patients.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive analyses of fiscal year 2014 (FY2014) national VHA administrative and clinical data, stratified by gender. Differences ≥5% higher than the population mean were considered clinically significant.
PARTICIPANTS: Veteran VHA primary care patients with a valid weight within ±365 days of their first FY2014 primary care visit, and a valid height (98% of primary care patients).
MAIN MEASURES: We used VHA vital signs data to ascertain height and weight and calculate body mass index, and VHA outpatient, inpatient, and fee basis data to identify sociodemographic- and comorbidity-based subpopulations.
KEY RESULTS: Among nearly five million primary care patients (347,112 women, 4,567,096 men), obesity prevalence was 41% (women 44%, men 41%), and overweight prevalence was 37% (women 31%, men 38%). Across the VHA’s 140 facilities, obesity prevalence ranged from 28% to 49%. Among gender-stratified subpopulations, obesity prevalence was high among veterans under age 65 (age 18-44: women 40%, men 46%; age 45-64: women 49%, men 48%). Obesity prevalence varied across racial/ethnic and comorbidity subpopulations, with high obesity prevalence among black women (51%), women with schizophrenia (56%), and women and men with diabetes (68%, 56%).
CONCLUSIONS: Overweight and obesity are common among veterans served by the VHA. VHA’s weight management initiatives have the potential to avert long-term morbidity arising from obesity-related conditions. High risk groups—such as black women veterans, women veterans with schizophrenia, younger veterans, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native veterans—may require particular attention to ensure that systems improvement efforts at the population level do not inadvertently increase health disparities.
|
|
