Partnerships

Eliminating Health Disparities by 2010: The New England Regional Conference
The OMH has been an active planning and participating partner in the bi-annual New England Eliminating Health Disparities Regional Conference. Each conference includes a state breakout session. These breakout sessions are used to identify minority health issues that are impacting the health of Rhode Islanders and to identify strategies and recommendations to address those issues. At the 2005 conference held in Portland, Maine, community partners identified the following objective/priorities for Rhode Island:

Educate, motivate and impact current leadership; support leadership development;
Facilitate and develop public/private sector partnership; convene state partners to oversee and coordinate implementation of the plan to eliminate disparities;
Develop a marketing plan to bring and maintain the issue of racial and ethnic health disparities in the fore front of the public’s mind;
Support the collection, reporting, analysis, sharing and utilization of data; and
Increase resources and technical assistance for the on-going development of state and local efforts;

New England Coalition for Health Equity (NECHE)
The OMH is working with the New England Coalition for Health Equity (NECHE) to develop a “State Agenda for the Elimination of Health Disparities”.

Offices of Minority Health
The OMH is working with the other New England State Offices of Minority Health and the Region 1 Federal Office of Minority Health to advance a common vision for the elimination of health disparities. For more information about initiatives at the national and regional levels, as well as in other states, visit the USDHHS Office of Minority Health website.

The Rhode Island Department of Health
Within HEALTH, the OMH works closely with all programs and divisions to ensure that specific priorities to achieve the goal of eliminating disparities by the year 2010 are identified and that each program integrates and addresses minority health within their own specific program areas.

Upcoming Events

NATIONAL MINORITY HEALTH MONTH
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April 2008

April is National Minority Health Month, a nationally-recognized campaign to raise awareness of racial and ethnic health disparities and to launch year-round initiatives to eliminate these disparities. The Rhode Island Department of Health is joining this public education effort, reinforcing the state’s commitment to eliminate health disparities.

past events