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2007 Annual Report
 DOWNLOAD OUR 2007 ANNUAL REPORT
Available in PDF form
The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health reached an important milestone in 2007 – our 15th anniversary.
Founded by humanitarian and tennis champion Arthur Ashe in 1992,
the Institute mourned the loss of Arthur just two months after our inception.
The first 15 years at the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health have been an unforgettable journey. We thank you for your continued support. We thank Arthur Ashe for his vision. |
AAIUH featured on MTV
The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health was included on Run's House, MTV's series starring Rev Run.
A scene shot at The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health was part of Episode 9, airing December 20th, 2007.
Watch the episode
HAVE A HEART - AND KEEP YOURS HEALTHY!
THE ARTHUR ASHE INSTITUTE FOR URBAN HEALTH OFFERS
TOP TEN "HEART HEALTHY" TIPS
Brooklyn, New York (February 08, 2008) - The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH) today announced its top ten tips for New York City residents to keep "Heart Healthy" on Valentine's Day. Its founder, tennis legend Arthur Ashe, was diagnosed with heart disease in the late 1970s that cut his promising athletic career short. Today, the AAIUH is a leader and pioneer in developing culturally competent health services that address racial, ethnic and gender disparities in health. The "Heart Healthy" tips are part of the curriculum created by the Institute to develop and implement effective programs that encourage people in urban areas to take a proactive approach to their health.
The following "Heart Healthy" Valentine's Day tips are cultivated from the AAIUH curriculum developed for its community health empowerment program on cardiovascular wellness:
| 1. |
Increase Activity. Exercise is good for you. Walking for 30 minutes each day can help tremendously. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Try getting off one stop early on the bus or train, and walk the rest.
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| 2. |
Know your numbers and what they mean. Keep track of your cholesterol levels, blood pressure reading, sugar levels, waist measurement, etc.
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| 3. |
Manage your weight. Excessive middle body fat is a risk factor for heart disease. The ideal waist measurement is below 35 inches for women and below 40 inches for men.
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| 4. |
Lower your blood pressure. The ideal Blood pressure reading is 120/80. If the top number is 140 and above, or the bottom number is 90 and above, you are considered to have high blood pressure. High blood pressure can damage your heart. Eat healthy and exercise regularly. Take medicines as prescribed by your doctor.
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| 5. |
Lower your cholesterol. Cholesterol is needed for your body to function; however high levels can be dangerous to your heart. Keep your total cholesterol level below 200 mg/dl. Use whole wheat bread instead of white bread and eat more bran, oatmeal, and olive oil.
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| 6. |
Decrease fat intake in your diet. If you love chocolates, try dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate for Valentine's Day. Dark chocolate is better for your heart and contains less sugar and fat than milk chocolate.
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| 7. |
Eat more fruits and vegetables. Stop by your local market to stock up on fresh produce.
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| 8. |
Stop smoking. Smoking can harden your arteries, which could impair your circulation. If you need help to quit smoking, call the NYC Quitline: 1-866-NY-QUITS (1-866-697-8487)
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| 9. |
Reduce sodium intake. Eat less salt. Salt is found in many canned goods, and processed foods. Even sodas have salt.
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| 10. |
Read Labels. Learn to read food labels. Know the ingredients in your food. Pay special attention to fat, salt, and sugar. Remember some low fat foods may be high in salt or sugar and no cholesterol foods may be high in fat.
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In addition to being Heart Health Awareness Month and Black History Month, February marks the 15th anniversary of Arthur Ashe's death. In 1992, Ashe announced the creation of the AAIUH in response to concerns about health care delivery in urban America. He knew that the disproportionate amount of illness and death from preventable diseases in our nation's multiethnic communities was not only caused by inadequate health care delivery, but also by late detection - the result of limited and, too often, culturally inappropriate health education information. For more information go to www.arthurasheinstitute.org.
About AAIUH
The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health is committed to the mission to reduce morbidity and mortality from disease among the most vulnerable populations in our urban areas through improved access to care and increased health knowledge by: preventing illness & disease through health education in traditional and non-traditional settings; assuring availability of care through training in urban medicine and allied health disciplines; breaking down institutional and cultural barriers in urban health education and health care through conferences and seminars; Seeking solutions through research; and, building bridges between the public, private and non-profit sectors through collaborations. Through the Institute's community health empowerment programs in beauty salons, barbershops, laundromats, tattoo and body piercing salons, libraries and places of worship, the experts at the AAIUH help people make their own efforts to be healthy.
The AAIUH's partnership with SUNY Downstate Medical Center is a national model for universities in partnership with communities. The Institute is a national tax-exempt charity headquartered in Brooklyn, NY.
Ruth Browne completes Fulbright Research Specialist program in Jerusalem at Hebrew University.
SECRET WHISPERS AT THE BEAUTY PARLOR
By Ruth C. Browne, ScD
Health Behavior News Service
King Midas received a harsh punishment - he grew donkey ears from both sides of his head. He was able to conceal this embarrassment easily from the masses, but one person knew - his barber. The barber couldn't bear the weight of this secret. He therefore dug a hole in the ground near the river shore and whispered into it the famous saying "King Midas has donkey ears". The reeds by the river tell this legend.
Service departments have used beauticians to spread information to their customers in the past few years to black women in a Brooklyn, New York neighborhood. This method was suggested to the health university at Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Suggestions and flyers were not working to get out the information.
A practical solution is found in the Arthur Ashe Institute. New York officials were looking for a way to prevent heart disease in women in Brooklyn. They chose beauticians for the job since they have good customer relationships, the customers trust their hairdressers. These are consistent relationships with faithful customers (those between you and your hairdresser). The wait is long at a salon and once women get to their hairdresser they open up to them. They discuss things like how to keep in shape and diets.
Dr. Ruth Brown discussed this idea with others at the Health Center in Jerusalem and said the first step was to get the numbers and addresses of beauty parlors in regions with high concentrations of heart disease victims.
They found about 200 salons - hair places and beauty parlors. They were asked to show a short video to women who were waiting for their hairdressers. The video describes the symptoms of heart disease, what women should do about this, and how to contact the emergency room. The hairdressers were asked to whisper some helpful tips to their customers as they were sitting in the beautician's chair and also were told to give out informative flyers and their blessings as the customers left.
This was very successful and was spread to nail salons, body piercing places, waxing places, etc. since customers trust these beauty specialists as well and would be open to their advice, especially for free.
Dr. Brown found in her research that it is crucial to focus on information that is not well known to women. Many women know that they are at risk for heart disease but they don't know the first signs and when they should rush to a doctor or call an ambulance. Many women in Israel are included in this category. There are a few critical hours between the beginning of pain or pressure in the chest when it is necessary to get immediate treatment.
After seeing success in the realm of heart disease, the Center of Health in Jerusalem decided to do the same for breast cancer. With the right delivery of the information in a manner that is appropriate for the customers of the salons and with the help of the "ambassadors" (hairdressers) who are sources of knowledge and motivation, awareness and knowledge can be spread to thousands regarding their health in a clear way that will have good results.
Today, this method is implemented in other American cities and deals with health education, quitting smoking, preventing STDs, sex education, and help with pregnancy. On their website you can see the hairdressers of the Ashe Institute in action, the will and faith of the customers, and you yourself can read the materials given to the women there. Finally, they have begun to teach health classes at beauty certification schools and they give a health test that students must take.
And what's going on in Israel? Can all barbers and hairdressers be used to spread health awareness? Definitely soon. Kindergarten and play school teachers that went through appropriate training show kids and parents how to prepare a healthy meal and relieve themselves of daily pressures. With the help of the Network of Health in Israel, including 41 communities, there are programs given whose goal is to bring a healthy daily life to every citizen.
Programs like these are made to grow in youth centers or senior centers. Nutritionists, sports counselors, doctors and nurses deliver information to a select group who then deliver it to the members. Eshel, a senior citizen organization informs its members that walking is the best exercise that contributes to good health.
The successful idea of using beauticians as "messengers of health" fills another important task which is overcoming health pitfalls. The Organization of World Health established guidelines of "health enlightenment" where a person can receive and understand information that will help him make decisions for his personal health.
Most of the population does not have access to this information and is often misted by sly businessmen trying to sell faulty products. This leaves people in the dark. Information about diseases needs to reach everyone. Israel needs to implement the methods of the Ashe Institute and maybe do something like have a nurse explain how to prevent smoking while waiting for a passport.
Hair Stylists Promote Breast Cancer Prevention Messages to Client
By Amy Sutton, Contributing Writer
Health Behavior News Service
Authors of a Brooklyn, N.Y., study say hair stylists might be a good resource for both healthy hair and information on breast cancer prevention. However, it is not clear if learning about breast health practices at the beauty shop has a significant effect on client's health behavior.
Hair stylists "are an institutionalized resource in the community and we consider them leaders in an environment that a lot of people come through," said Dr. Ruth Browne, principle investigator of the new study.
Women in the African-American community often have a regular source of hair care, but might not have a similar resource for health information, said Browne, head of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health in Brooklyn.
As part of the study, 29 stylists from three Brooklyn neighborhoods participated in two two-hour workshops to learn about encouraging clients to practice three breast health behaviors: conducting monthly breast self-examinations, getting annual clinical breast exams from a health care professional and - for women 40 years and older - undergoing routine mammography.
Researchers later surveyed the clients of the stylists who had attended the training. They compared the responses of those clients with survey responses from clients of hair stylists not exposed to the health information training.
More than 1,200 women participated in the study. Ninety-two percent of the stylists and clients identified themselves as African-American, Afro-Caribbean or of African ancestry.
The study appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.
Thirty-seven percent of women who had visited one of the experimental salons reported hearing breast health messages from their stylists, compared with 10 percent of women at the control sites.
These messages appeared to have little influence: women who had appointments at experimental salons were no more likely to do self-breast exams, receive clinical breast exams or have a mammogram, the study found.
Nevertheless, researchers did find that women who had heard breast health messages in the last three months were significantly more likely to have completed monthly self-breast exams, compared to women who had not heard breast messages.
Women who had recently heard about breast health also reported greater intentions to have a clinical breast exam.
"While there's intent, we don't have documented evidence of action," said Therese Bevers, M.D., medical director of the Cancer Prevention Center at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. She was not involved in the Brooklyn study.
Bevers noted that the study found stylists had a decreased willingness to discuss breast health after training. Stylists might have "realized that breast health messages may be harder to communicate accurately, and that they may give wrong messages," which could lead to reluctance to get involved, Bevers said.
The National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, supported the study program.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Health Behavior News Service: Lisa Esposito at (202) 387-2829 or hbns-editor@cfah.org.
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved: Contact Editor Virginia M. Brennan at (615) 327-6819 or vbrennan@mmc.edu. Online, visit http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_health_care_for_the_poor_and_underserved/
Wilson TE, et al. Hair salon stylists as breast cancer prevention lay health advisors for African American and Afro-Caribbean women. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 19(1), 2008.
Interviews: Ruth Browne at rbrowne@arthurasheinstitute.com
Healthy conversation at Brooklyn salon
BY JOYCE SHELBY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, February 5th 2008
In her 40 years as a stylist, Erma Green has done much more than women's hair: She's had countless heart-to-heart talks with her clients.
"I explain things to them. They explain things to me. My customers and me, we talk," Green said diplomatically, unwilling to divulge a single confidence she has learned at her Bedford-Stuyvesant shop, Al's House of Style on Halsey St.
From now on, one of the things Green will be discussing with customers is heart health.
Last week, she and three other stylists at her shop attended a training session conducted by the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health.
"Stylists have a natural rapport with their clients. They are people customers trust," said Dr. Marilyn White, associate director of the institute, which is based at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.
READ THE FULL STORY IN NY DAILY NEWS
AAIUH programs featured in JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
Assessment of Preventive Health Knowledge and Behaviors of African-American and Afro-Caribbean Women in Urban Settings
Objectives: This report measures the extent of health knowledge and preventive behaviors of African-American and
Afro-Caribbean women in New York City.
Methods: Two-hundred-twenty-one females in 10 Brooklyn-area beauty salons were surveyed in mid-June 2004. Participants
completed a 30-item questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha=0.76) focusing on six domains: heart health, breast
health, prostate health, second-hand smoke, asthma and sexual health. The instrument included 10 items on preventive
behaviors related to the aforementioned domains. Mean knowledge scores were calculated, and analyses
were performed to evaluate the factors associated with higher knowledge scores and with greater likelihood of
preventive health behaviors.
Results: Despite a high level of knowledge about risk factors
and symptoms for several common diseases, a large percentage of the sample engaged in high-risk behaviors. In
addition, higher knowledge scores were associated with family history of heart disease (p=0.035), family history of
prostate cancer (p=0.032) and being a member of an HMO (p=0.001). Higher scores, in turn, were associated with not
currently smoking (p=0.049) and going for a blood cholesterol screening in the past year (p=0.045).
Conclusion: Future intervention efforts should place greater focus on educating participants about symptoms and risk
factors for commonly occurring diseases in the community, and on generating behavioral changes.
READ THE FULL REPORT
GUEST EDITORIAL:
Most Black Women Have a Regular Source of Hair Care - But Not Medical Care
by Ruth C. Browne, ScD
Salon-based health education programs have received
attention in recent years around the country because
they engage trusted members of the community (hair
stylists) in community health promotion efforts. Hair
salons hold special meaning among African-American
women. Historically, beauty salons represent one of the
few businesses black women in the United States could
start and gain economic independence. In many ways,
salons are like places of worship in communities - places
of refuge and healing. To their customers, salons represent
a place where women can go to be pampered and cared for
consistently. Although the salon setting is important to the
delivery of health messages, the relationship between the
customer and her stylist is a key factor. The salon stylist has
always been considered a confidant. She has traditionally
had a personal history of each of her clients, their significant others, including spouses and children. Since stylists
generally stand 6 - 8 inches from a woman's ear, who better
to whisper some potentially lifesaving pearls of wisdom?
Most black women have a regular source of hair care, but
not medical care. In this program, the Arthur Ashe Institute
for Urban Health(AAIUH) has weaved health into the
ongoing, traditional work of restoring and taking care of
the beauty of the community.affected communities in a manner that is acceptable to
the community.
READ THE FULL EDITORIAL
WellPoint Foundation Awards $332,100 Grant on Behalf of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield to the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health
Donation will be used to recruit and hire an Associate Director for Health Science Education for the Institute's Health Science Academy
Brooklyn, NY - WellPoint Foundation, the charitable giving arm of WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), announced that it awarded a $332,100 grant to the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH), to be paid over 3 years in installments of $110,700 each. The money has been designated to fund the recruitment and hiring of an Associate Director for Health Science Education to join The Health Science Academy and was made on behalf of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, a subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc.
The Health Science Academy is a 3-year college level science program designed for highly successful inner-city high school students. The Academy currently serves 160 students from 10 local high schools. The curriculum, 20 weeks of lectures, labs, and research presentations, prepares the students for college and encourages them to enter health-related fields.
"The Institute will be able to use this money to educate children in underserved communities through health-related programs, and address racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in healthcare," said Mark Wagar, President of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield. "People from inner-cities are underrepresented in healthcare-related careers, and both AAIUH and WellPoint are committed to developing culturally sensitive programs to reach out to and educate this population."
The Associate Director will be an experienced educator and evaluator, responsible for tracking and measuring students' progress; assessing the infrastructure and curriculum of the program; establishing a parent empowerment program; analyzing similar programs to develop a plan for future enhancements; and strengthening the current program to create a replicable model.
The objectives of the Institute's Health Science Academy are in line with those of the WellPoint Foundation, which include improved health, increased healthcare quality and affordability, and better healthcare accessibility to medically underserved communities.
Posters Available for Download
download Government, Community/Academic Partnership in PDF format
download Barbers as Lay Health Advocates in PDF format
HEALTH EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES BEYOND NEW YORK: GSK HELPS US EXPAND
FROM A STORY BY NICK REED
In the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, and now in Philadelphia because of
support from GSK, hundreds of women of color are seeking health and wellness
information in unconventional locations - primarily hair salons - in one of the
numerous innovative Community Health Empowerment Programs set up by the AAIUH.
Since its founding in 1992 by the late tennis champion, the Institute has
designed and implemented an array of health education projects in
non-traditional venues - churches, laundromats and tattoo parlors, as well as
barber shops and beauty salons. The reason, as AAIUH Chief Executive Officer,
Dr. Ruth Browne, explains, is simple: it's all about trust.
There is a
cultural aspect, too. Many people from ethnic minorities are immigrants. Issues
such as lifestyle and language often act as barriers to adequate health
education and care, not to mention racism and discrimination. Health issues are
also regarded by many minority communities from a cultural point of view, which
is why the Institute's programs are built on a belief that services must be
accessible, in trusted and familiar settings, that they must empower individuals
and be culturally tailored to address diseases that disproportionately affect
urban minority groups.
"For all the technology and health information
now available, there is still differential access," Browne explains. "It is
critical that people from minority communities are given the tools and
resources, as well as training in how to use information that enables them to
take charge of their own health, to ask the questions that help them receive the
same quality of service as everyone else. If anything, they need more services
than other communities, because of the disproportionate burden of illness they
face."
GSK is supporting the AAIUH with grants totalling $350,000 over
three years for core funding of the Community Health Empowerment Program. This
has helped the Institute expand a number of its ground-breaking projects,
including the Black Pearls program, which has grown from just ten sites in 1996
to over 120 sites today, and Nuestra Belleza (Our Beauty) for Latina women. Both
are part of the new Urban Health Initiative in Philadelphia, which is the
beginning of the Institute's strategic plan for institutional growth through
replication.
"The Philadelphia project will be guided by a Planning and
Oversight Committee, which will be responsible for identifying and recruiting
community partners," says Necole Brown, Deputy Director. "The Committee will
help identify target communities, especially African-American and
Latino/Hispanic communities, as part of the replication process. It will
coordinate all training activities, monitor and report on the program's progress
and maintain contact with all stakeholders."
Given that Philadelphia is
home to its US operations, GSK was instrumental in getting the new program off
the ground. "The company has been supporting us since 1997 and has
representation on our board," Ruth Browne reveals. "More importantly, the
company shares our empowerment objectives. GSK's presence in Philadelphia meant
it was a great place to start the replication of our programs, and its
confidence in our work has been critical in helping us attract funding from
other sources."
MaryLinda Andrews, Director of Community Partnerships
for GSK in the US, adds: "We commend the AAIUH on its efforts to educate people
on important health issues that impact our communities. Its objectives parallel
the mission of the company overall, to improve the quality of all human life;
its commitment to sustainability (and particularly replication) mirrors one of
the most crucial elements of our community funding criteria."
A new style of public health education
Starting in West Philadelphia, a program will use hair salons as a venue to teach women about diabetes and asthma.
By Shirley Wang
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Health officials are enlisting an unlikely ally in the fight against asthma and
diabetes: the hairdresser.
A new program announced yesterday at City Hall relies on the rapport between
hairstylists and their customers to teach women how to ward off common chronic
diseases.
"Many women in our communities have regular sources of hair care, not medical
care," said Ruth Browne, head of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, a
Brooklyn, N.Y., group that has run similar programs in New York City since 1996.
Yesterday, at a free health screening and spa day at City Hall, the group
announced that starting in July, it would provide training and materials to 10
hair salons in West Philadelphia. Another 10 salons will participate in North
Philadelphia starting in the fall, Browne said.
The new program will target inner-city African American and Latina women, who
tend to suffer more from asthma and diabetes than other groups.
The Philadelphia initiative, called Black Pearls for African American women and
Nuestra Belleza for Latinas is expected to reach 1,400 women within eight
months, Browne said, not counting friends and relatives.
The effort is financed with a $300,000 grant from GlaxoSmithKline. The drug firm
did not help develop the program's materials, and will not use it to advertise
its drugs, said Thais McNeal, senior manager for the firm's Healthy Communities
program.
Asthma and diabetes are major health concerns. An estimated 17 million Americans
suffer from asthma, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and
Immunology, and 18 million have diabetes, reports the American Diabetes
Association.
Nearly 13 percent of people in Southeastern Pennsylvania have had asthma
symptoms sometime in their lives, with those in Philadelphia County reporting a
higher rate than in neighboring counties, according to the nonprofit
Philadelphia Health Management Corp. Prevalence rates are greater for African
Americans and Latinos as well as those living in poverty.
Black Pearls will use salons to conquer a big challenge in public health -
gaining the community's trust, Browne said.
Similar approaches have been used before to reach those who rarely enter the
health-care system. Hairdressers were enlisted in San Francisco in 2001 to
combat domestic violence. In the early 1990s, AIDS researchers trained
bartenders to share information with their customers to combat the disease.
In Philadelphia, salons will show short videos on asthma and diabetes three
times a day at their busiest periods. Customers will be asked to fill out
five-minute written surveys about asthma, and will also be contacted a few
months later to see how much they retained.
"This is a way we can empower communities," Browne said. "We want people to be
more proactive about their own health."
It is unclear how successful Black Pearls will be. Some previous research
suggests that education alone may not result in behavior change.
And some may not welcome the unsolicited instruction. "I don't want to hear
about asthma when getting my hair done," said Philadelphia resident Davida Carr,
20, an asthma sufferer. "People should be going to their doctors about it."
Others, however, said hairdressers might help turn around a public health
menace. "We know people from birth to death," said Shirley Randleman, cofounder
of the Philadelphia Beauty Showcase National Historical Museum, who will help
choose salons. "We have a lifelong relationship."
TOPSPIN Returns
October 2005
Read TOPSPIN online (no download) or download TOPSPIN in PDF format, our award winning quarterly newsletter, and find out the
top news from the Institute.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
"LIVE THE LEGACY"
In the last several months, the Institute's mission
in urban communities has been supported by the
generosity of those who share our commitment to
good health.
"Partnership to Create Brooklyn Center
for Health Disparities"
"Health Empowerment Initiatives Beyond
New York: GSK Helps Us Expand -From a story by Nick Reed"
"News From TheInstitute & Thoughts About Arthur -Seth Abraham, AAIUH Board of Directors"
DOWNLOAD TOPSPIN IN PDF FORMAT
NY Stock Exchange honors AAIUH
 Board members of AAIUH ring the
closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on the tenth anniversary of its founding by Arthur Ashe.
On December 3, 1992, two months before his death, Arthur Ashe announced the creation of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH) in response to concerns about health care delivery in urban America. He knew that the disproportionate amount of illness and death from preventable diseases in our nation's multiethnic communities was not only caused by inadequate health care delivery, but also by late detection - the result of limited and, too often, culturally inappropriate health education information.
NIH Director's Council of Public Representatives Welcomes Nine New Members including the Arthur Ashe Institute's CEO, Dr. Ruth C. Browne
BETHESDA, MARYLAND - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected nine individuals to serve as members of the Director's Council of Public Representatives (COPR), a committee that advises the NIH Director on issues of public importance. They join 12 current members of the Council.
"I am very pleased to welcome the nine new members to the NIH and to COPR," said NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni, M.D. "These new members bring a wealth of knowledge and professional experience in the areas of medicine, public service, journalism, and public affairs as well as a strong commitment to the advancement of public health and medical research."
The new members are James J. Armstrong of Sagamore Hills, Ohio; Ruth C. Browne, M.P.P., M.P.H., Sc.D., of Brooklyn, New York; Barbara D. Butler of St. Louis, Missouri;
Frances J. Dunston, M.D., M.P.H., of Atlanta, Georgia; Rafael Gonzalez-Amezcua, M.D., of San Francisco, California; Jim Jensen of Lincoln, Nebraska; Dawna Torres Mughal, Ph.D., R.D., of Erie, Pennsylvania;
William D. Novelli of Bethesda, Maryland; and Ellen V. Sigal, Ph.D., of Washington, DC.
Increasing The Representation Of Minorities In Medicine And The Health Professions:
Policies, Partnerships And Outcomes
We are pleased to share with you the proceedings from our conference entitled,
"Increasing the Representation of Minorities in Medicine and the Health Professions: Policies, Partnerships and Outcomes" which was held in New York City last October.
With the Surgeon General's "Healthy People 2010" initiative and the goal to eliminate health disparities coupled with the decrease in the number of minorities enrolling
in medical and health professional schools we knew it was time to bring these issues to the forefront with academicians, politicians, practitioners, policy makers.
This conference is the first in a series of meetings we plan to conduct to address these issue and potential solutions.
Download PDF file of the conference report
MENOPAUSE MANAGEMENT UPDATE
The NIH study on hormone replacement therapy has caused great concern in both the medical and consumer community. At this point there is no acute danger, however, anyone considering or currently using hormone replacement therapy should review with her practitioner, the new findings to assess the reasons for patient use.
Please be advised that The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health does not recommend therapies of any kind. Our mission is to educate people about the range of options
available to them for a variety of health issues.
Urban Justice Center CONNECT: Communities Coordinated Against Violence
Communities Coordinated Against Violence, a new and unique organization to help communities develop preventive and early intervention strategies which address violence in the family, has funded the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health to conduct culturally-tailored Domestic Violence focus groups of African-Caribbean and African-American men and women.
Six focus groups of over 70 participants ranging from age 18-75 from barbershops, beauty salons and faith-based communities have provided information about abuse, perceptions of community interventions, existing public policy and opinions unique to women due to their ethnicity and/or cultural background. Cultural subtleties in communications around domestic violence as well as themes provide strategies for on-going program development.
Reports and data from these groups will support the design of a culturally tailored domestic violence intervention that can be used to advance community health empowerment
programs in barbershops, beauty salons and churches.
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