A snapshot of Georgia Office of Health Improvement

An Office Of The Georgia Department Of Community Health
A Snapshot Of The Office of health improvement
A SNAPSHOT OF GEORGIA
Office of Health Improvement
Overview The Office of Health Improvement (OHI) supports and develops programs and initiatives that provide outreach, education and treatment for Georgia's women, men, minorities and other underserved populations. Particular emphasis is focused upon cardiovascular disease and stroke, diabetes, cancer and HIV/AIDS, where there are gaps in prevention, education and awareness among Georgia residents. These diseases affect all Georgians, but have a more profound effect on the state's minorities and other underserved populations.
OHI is charged with the responsibility of examining and bringing attention to health and health care related issues that disparately affect specific groups and populations throughout the state.
Program Description The OHI is comprised of three offices: the Georgia Commission on Men's Health, the Office of Women's Health and the Office of Minority Health which encompasses the HIV/AIDS TAKE Project. OHI program responsibilities include:
Increasing disparity awareness and serving as an informational resource Developing and recommending appropriate policy initiatives and modifications Advocating for equitable access to health care Raising awareness, educating and empowering people about health issues Developing policies and plans that support community partnerships and actions to identify health
problems and working to solve them Linking persons to needed personal health services Evaluating the effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal and population-based health services Fostering awareness of current health crisis that affect specific targeted populations Encouraging healthy behaviors and promoting healthy lifestyles
Advisory Boards The Georgia Commission on Men's Health has 12 members appointed by the Governor and legislature. It develops strategies, public policies and programs that will bring about awareness of health issues that significantly affect men and provides education on prevention and healthy lifestyles. The Commission strives to improve men's health outcomes and monitors proposed and active state and federal policy/legislation impacting the health of Georgia's men.
The Women's Health Advisory Council has 11 members appointed by the Governor. The council supports the Office of Women's Health (OWH) in promoting and leading efforts to improve the health status and quality of life of women through education, policy development and coordination of women's health programming. The council advises the OWH on six functional areas: leadership, public and professional education with emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention, partnership building with public and private sectors, policy development, internal coordination and research related to women's health issues.
The Minority Health Advisory Council is composed of 12 members appointed by the DCH Commissioner to address issues that relate to improve health care access and reduce and eliminate health disparities for ethnic/racial minorities and other underserved populations.
2 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Ga 30303 w www.dch.georgia.gov
January 2011

A Snapshot Of The Office of health improvement
According to The State of Health Disparities in Georgia from Georgia the Health Equity Initiative Health Disparities Report 2008: A County-Level Look at Health Outcomes for Minorities in Georgia by DCH's Office of Health Improvement and the Minority Health Advisory Council, racial and ethnic disparities in health have been documented across a broad range of medical conditions and for a range of racial and ethnic groups. These differences have been noted in health outcomes, such as health related quality of life (HRQOL) and mortality; processes, quality and appropriateness of care; and the prevalence of certain conditions or diseases. OHI focuses its efforts in reducing and eliminating health disparities.
Here are some of the report's statistics:
Social and economic well-being The rate of poverty for Latinos is more than 21 percent; it is greater than 23 percent for African-Americans compared to about eight percent for their white counterparts (Source: Initiative on Poverty and Economics, University of Georgia) More than one in five Latinos (21 percent) and African-Americans (23 percent) have family incomes below the poverty level compared to only one in twelve (about eight percent) of their white counterparts (Source: Initiative on Poverty and Economics, University of Georgia ) The graduation rate in the 2006-2007 school-years was only 60.3 percent for Latinos, 65.5 percent for African-Americans and Native Americans. This compares with 77.5 percent graduation rates for white students (Source: Governor's Office of Student Achievement) Babies born to unmarried mothers were 23.4 percent for whites, 46.9 percent for Latino women and 67.3 percent for African-American women (Source: 2005 Vital Statistics)
Health status indicators (presence of disease and premature death) African-American males were diagnosed with AIDS at a rate of 90.8 per 100,000 compared to a rate of 10.3 in white males in 2005. HIV/AIDS was the cause of death for African-Americans at a rate of 18.4 per 100,000 compared to 2.5 for whites (Source: Georgia Division of Public Health Online Analytical Statistical Information System {OASIS}) B lack males in Georgia are 39 percent more likely than white males to die of cancer; black females are 13 percent more likely than white females to die of cancer L atinos are twice as likely to die from heart disease as Caucasians The death rate from diabetes is two times higher for black women than for white women H omicide was the cause of 33 percent of deaths among African-American males ages 13-29 compared to three percent of white males in the same age group. (Source: 2005 Vital Statistics) Suicide was the cause of 4.4 percent of deaths among Latino men compared to 1.3 percent of AfricanAmerican and 2.6 percent of white men. (Source: 2005 Vital Statistics) The death rate of African-American babies in the first year of life is two times the rate of white babies. (Source: OASIS) More than 9.2 percent of Latina women received less than five prenatal visits during their pregnancy versus 2.9 percent of white non-Latina women African-American women gave birth to very low birth weight babies
Health behaviors African-American middle school children were more likely to be obese (17 percent) than white children (11 percent). (Source: 2005 Oral Health Survey) African-American teens have a higher rate of teen pregnancy (85.3) than white teens (46.9). Latino teens have the highest teen pregnancy rate in Georgia, and that rate has increased over the past decade while it has declined for other ethnic/racial groups. (Source: Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention) Latino and African-American children get less recommended physical activity than their white classmates