|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Medicare News
Hispanic Senior Citizens Urged to Use Medicare More
by New HHS Program
Hispanic elderly falling behind non-Hispanic whites
in health, study finds
June 15, 2007 Studies find a growing disparity
between the health of Hispanic senior citizens and the non-Hispanic
white elderly population. Several agencies within Health and Human
Services have joined together to launch a program to encourage Hispanic
elders and their families to take advantage of more Medicare benefits,
including prescription drug coverage, flu shots, diabetes screening and
self-management, cardiovascular screening, cancer screening services and
smoking cessation programs.
Findings from the 2006 National Healthcare
Disparities Report prepared by the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (AHRQ) revealed the disparities.
Now, AHRQ, the Administration on Aging, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicare
Services and the Health Resources and Services Administration are
teaming up to assist local communities in developing more coordinated
strategies for improving the health and well-being of Hispanic elders.
Hispanics comprise the largest minority group in
the United States and the number of older Hispanics is growing rapidly.
By 2028, Hispanics will be the largest minority population in the 65 and
over age group, reaching 7.1 million and comprising over 10 percent of
the elderly population.
Historically, there have been a number of
financial, organizational, cultural and linguistic barriers to providing
appropriate health and social services to Hispanic elders which
exacerbate their growing health disparities. For example, Hispanic
elders are much more likely to be hospitalized for diabetes due to poor
diabetes control, and they are far less likely to receive pneumonia or
flu shots or cancer screening services.
The HHS initiative, Improving Hispanic Elders
Health: Community Partnerships for Evidence-Based Solutions, was
introduced yesterday by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt.
This unprecedented partnership will make it easier
for communities to help Hispanic elders, especially those with chronic
health conditions and limited resources, to overcome barriers that
impede their access to healthcare and social supports that can improve
their health, Secretary Leavitt said.
The initiative will also help Hispanic elders take
advantage of a Chronic Disease Self-Management Program developed by
Stanford University with funding from HHS that has proven effective in
reducing the risk of chronic disease and disability among Hispanic
elders.
The HHS initiative will be piloted in up to seven
metropolitan areas with large Hispanic elder populations.
HHS will start by convening a workshop where teams
from the invited areas will learn about state-of-the-art strategies and
tactics they can deploy to address disparities among their Hispanic
elder populations. The teams will be comprised of representatives from
local public health providers, Hispanic community organizations, aging
service providers and the health care sector.
The teams that appear ready to launch
community-wide mobilization efforts will be invited to participate in a
year-long national learning network project that will utilize Web casts,
conference calls and peer-to-peer meetings to facilitate cross-site
learning and innovation.
The communities invited to apply for this pilot
project are: Chicago, Ill., El Paso, Texas; Houston, Texas; Los Angeles,
Calif.; McAllen, Texas; Miami, Fla.; New York, N.Y.; San Antonio, Texas;
San Diego, Calif.
These nine areas have been invited to apply for
this pilot project because of their high concentrations of Hispanic
elderly as well as to ensure that there is an appropriate geographic
distribution of areas across the country in the initiative.
Selection of up to seven communities will be based
on criteria that will be posted on the Web site listed below.
The deadline for applications is Tuesday, July 24,
2007.
While any member of the proposed teams may serve as
the lead, the local Area Agencies on Aging are being asked to submit the
application. Area Agencies on Aging are federally designated entities
responsible for area-wide planning and coordination on matters that
affect the areas aging population.
For more details about Improving Hispanic Elders
Health: Community Partnerships for Evidence-Based Solutions, visit
http://www.academyhealth.org/ahrq/elders.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
