April is National Minority Health Month!
This annual observance builds awareness about the health disparities that persist among racial and ethnic minority and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations and encourages us to take action to end these inequities. The foundation for National Minority Health Month was laid by educator, author, and civil rights leader Booker T. Washington, who, in 1915, established National Negro Health Week (NNHW) . NNHW was recognized until 1951 and formed the basis for many of the health-focused observances we celebrate today.
Each year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) designates a theme for National Minority Health Month. The theme for 2024, Be the Source for Better Health: Improving Health Outcomes Through Our Cultures, Communities, and Connections, is about understanding how the unique environments, cultures, histories, and circumstances (known as social determinants of health, or SDOH) of racial and ethnic minority and AI/AN populations impact their overall health.
Non-medical factors like poverty, limited access to health care, lack of education, and racism are all examples of SDOH that contribute to health disparities and inequities. SDOH impacts nearly everyone in one way or another, and simply promoting healthy choices won’t eliminate health disparities. Considering the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age is fundamental to improving health and reducing longstanding disparities affecting racial and ethnic minorities and AI/AN populations.
SDOH impacts nearly everyone in one way or another, and simply promoting healthy choices won’t eliminate health disparities. Non-medical factors like poverty, limited access to health care, lack of education, and racism are all examples of individual SDOH that contribute to health disparities and inequities.
SDOH can be grouped into five domains:
- Economic Stability
- Education Access and Quality
- Health Care Access and Quality
- Neighborhood and Built Environment
- Social and Community Context
The relationship between SDOH and health disparities and inequities are complex and multilayered. Many health disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority and AI/AN people are often the result of or exacerbated by multiple SDOH factors. By addressing SDOH through a comprehensive approach, we can work to advance health equity and reduce health disparities among vulnerable populations.
Take Action
Public health and community-based organizations can take steps to start improving the health of their communities by addressing SDOH. Organizations can leverage these steps, adapted from guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to Be the Source for Better Health in your communities:
Convene
Bring together members of your community and trusted organizations to identify concerns specific to your community.
Consider
Collect and utilize multiple sources of data and information, including public health data, to help develop strategies that can benefit you and your community.
Commit
Committing to providing Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) is one way to help eliminate health inequities. Effective, equitable, and respectful care and services that are responsive to diverse cultural health beliefs and practices, preferred languages, economic and environmental circumstances, and health literacy levels are essential to close the gap in health outcomes for racial and ethnic minority populations.
Collaborate
Work with trusted partners to address the impact of SDOH on vulnerable populations and to find innovative solutions that can be put into action. Mobilize partners to develop and implement strategies addressing health disparities and long-standing inequities.
Visit the National Minority Health Month 2024 website to find information on how to Be the Source for Better Health.
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