Minority Health Month In Connecticut

Each year the US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Minority Health designates April as Minority Health Month.

This year's theme is: Health Equity Can't Wait. Act Now in Your CommUNITY! It is a call to action for state and local offices of minority health, health departments, community organizations and individuals across the country to be involved in activities with a focus on reducing health disparities.

April 2012 also marks the first anniversary of the launch of the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equity.

Some Local April Activities

Coalitions across the state of Connecticut are working to build awareness about issues and strategies to overcome poor health outcomes in communities of color. The Partnership,  recognizing the complexity and interconnectedness of minority health issues, continues to play an active role in various professional, community-based and grassroots organizations across the state to bridge efforts to address health disparities and inequities.

Each year, the Partnership finds new ways to get involved in local activities addressing health disparities during April, such as the African American Women's Summit in New Haven,  the Connecticut MOMs Health Fair in Danbury, and the Connecticut Multicultural Health Partnership, to name a few.

On April 21st, the Connecticut Cancer Partnership will participate in the first annual Minority Health Summit hosted by the African American Health Council of Southeastern Connecticut and the Ledge Light Health District.  Leading this effort is Stephanye Clarke, Health Program Coordinator at the Ledge Light Health District, alumna of the Connecticut Health Foundation Health Leadership Fellowship, and member of the Connecticut Cancer Partnership.

In a recent interview with Betty Murray, Disparities Project Coordinator of the Partnership, Stephanye Clarke explained that the Summit is an effort to build awareness and local capacity and will to act to improve health outcomes in the southeastern Connecticut. Clarke also highlighted the necessity to present minority health as a "whole person" issue acknowledging the bearing of socio-economic factors and living conditions on one's health, life and mortality. In order to provide a comprehensive view of minority health in southeastern Connecticut, the Summit brings together a group of skilled facilitators to engage community residents in meaningful dialogue highlighting data, communication, policy and advocacy, community organizing and faith-based strategies. 

To learn more about the Minority Health Summit, please contact Stephanye Clarke (860) 448-4882.

Click here to view the Minority Health Summit brochure.  

Partnership's Navigation Conference Draws Connecticut Cancer Professionals

On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, over 160 cancer control professionals will be focusing on patient navigation at the Cromwell Crowne Plaza

Registration for the conference, sponsored by the Connecticut Cancer Partnership in collaboration with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the American Cancer Society and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, opened on March 1 and was slated to close on March 30th. However, due to high demand, all available spaces were taken by March 25th necessitating a waiting list.

"We are delighted that there is so much interest in this topic among the heath communities in Connecticut," said Partnership Project Coordinator Amanda Sadlon. "The new ACOS CoC Standards require that cancer centers have a navigation program, so we are seeing interest among program developers who need to meet those standards.  In addition the conference is attracting current navigators looking to expand their knowledge base. This conference will offer education to both of these groups."

National subject-matter experts will discuss the history of patient navigation, complete with projections for its future; barrier recognition and assessment through an interdisciplinary case study; logic for building a navigation program; different models of navigation; how to integrate quality care using navigation; and finally to how measure the effectiveness of navigation programs.

All of the presentations given during the conference will be posted to CA CONNecting in the weeks following April 17th, so those unable to attend will have access to the information shared. 

Breast Center Accreditation Aligns With Cancer Partnership Priorities

Priority goals in the Connecticut Cancer Plan line up with national standards reflected by the  National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a consortium of national, professional organizations dedicated to the improvement of the quality of care and the monitoring of outcomes for patients with diseases of the breast.

The William W. Backus Hospital Breast Center is the most recent Connecticut breast cancer center to receive accreditation through the  National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, (NAPBC) joining 15 other centers in Connecticut similarly credentialed. Quality breast healthcare is available at the 16 NAPBC-Accredited centers in Connecticut, more than in any other New England state. According to the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers website, Massachusetts has ten accredited centers, Rhode Island and New Hampshire each has three, while Maine has two and Vermont has one.

Accreditation by the NAPBC of the American College of Surgeons is granted only to those centers that are voluntarily committed to providing the best possible care to patients with diseases of the breast. Each breast center must undergo a rigorous evaluation and review of its performance and compliance with NAPBC Standards undergoing an on-site review every three years.

NAPBC-accredited centers offer the following:

• A model for organizing and managing a breast center to ensure multidisciplinary, integrated, and comprehensive breast care services
• Internal and external assessment of breast center performance based on recognized standards to demonstrate a commitment to quality care
• Recognition by national healthcare organizations as having established performance measures for high-quality breast care
• National recognition and public promotion
• Participate in a National Breast Disease Database to report patterns of care and effect quality improvement
• Access to breast center comparison benchmark reports containing national aggregate data and individual center data to assess patterns of care and outcomes relative to national norms

Connecticut centers now accredited are:

New Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines Released

The American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP), and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) have released new guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cervical cancer. The new guidelines advise a reduction in the number of tests women get over their lifetime to better ensure that they receive the benefits of testing while minimizing the harms, and include a preference for co-testing using the Pap test and HPV test for women ages 30 to 65. The guidelines are being jointly published inCA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians (ACS), Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease (ASCCP), and American Journal of Clinical Pathology (ASCP).

The release of these joint guidelines was timed in coordination with the release of similar guidelines from the United States Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF), although the two processes were independent.

The major recommendations of the joint guidelines include:

• Women should not be screened before age 21
• Women 21 to 29 should be screened with the Pap test alone (conventional or liquid-based) every three years. HPV testing should NOT be used for screening in this age group.
• For women 30 and over, the preferred approach is the Pap test plus HPV testing ("co-testing") every five years. Continued screening with the Pap test alone (without HPV testing) every three years is an acceptable alternative. While screening with HPV testing alone is promising, at this time it is not recommended for most clinical settings.
• Screening is not recommended for women over age 65 who have had at least three consecutive negative Pap tests or at least two negative HPV tests the last 10 years, with the most recent test in the last 5 years. Women in this age group who have a history of pre-cancer (CIN2 or a more severe diagnosis) should continue routine screening for at least 20 years.
• Women who have undergone a hysterectomy (with removal of the cervix) for reasons not related to cervical cancer or pre-cancer should not be screened.
• Women who have been vaccinated against HPV should follow the age-specific recommendations in these guidelines (for unvaccinated women).
• Women at any age should NOT be screened annually by any screening method.
• Women with a slightly abnormal Pap test result (called "ASC-US") and a negative HPV test can be screened again with co-testing in 5 years or with the Pap test alone in 3 years.
• Women with a negative Pap result but a positive HPV test can either be rescreened with co-testing in one year, or tested with a test for specific types of HPV (HPV16 and HPV 18).