Violence is among the most serious health threats in the nation today. It is a leading cause of injury, disability, and premature death; and a significant disparity disproportionally affecting young people and people of color. Violence is preventable. It can be significantly reduced through a public health approach which addresses the underlying causes. This approach engages youth to create new opportunities for participation, fosters leadership and economic opportunity, and dismantles barriers to peaceful streets and connected neighbors.

• Evidence on what works to prevent violence
• Lessons from local public health departments
• Contributions of public health to preventing violence

• Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD, UNITY Co-Chair, Harvard School of Public Health

The first ever National Institutes of Health Minority Health Promotion Day will take place on Thursday, April 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the NIH Clinical Center. The daylong celebration, themed "Working Together to Improve Minority Health: Building Healthy Communities," will commemorate National Minority Health Month.

Dr. Brian Smedley of the Health Policy Institute will moderate a panel entitled The Social Determinants of Health in Health Disparities: Can We Afford to Ignore Them? from 1 to 3 PM in Masur Auditorium.

For more information, visit the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Dr. Brian Smedley of the Health Policy Institute will moderate a Congressional briefing entitled "Research and Prevention: Closing the Chronic Disease Gap in Minority Populations" on Wednesday, April 18 at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. This briefing is sponsored by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Gastroenterological Association, Association of Black Cardiologists, and American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

This policy brief identifies some of the policy strategies that are being studied and implemented in communities across the country. Prepared by Bryant Cameron Webb, a rising leader in medicine and health policy, we expect that this brief will be useful for policymakers, public health practitioners, community organizations, researchers, and others committed to improving the health of people of color and eliminating health inequities. This analysis furthers the Joint Center’s long history of work to identify solutions to some of our nation’s most pressing policy issues, and ensure that people of color can continue to contribute to the fullest extent to the rich social, economic, and political life of the nation.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute will hold its 2012 PLACE MATTERS National Health Equity Conference, entitled Models of Action, Innovation, and Collaboration, on September 4 and 5, 2012 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC.

Featured speakers include:

• Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PolicyLink
• Dr. Howard Frumkin, Dean and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington School of Public Health
• Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone
• Kathy Lim Ko, President and CEO, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum

Registration is now open! Please click the REGISTER button in the box to the right for registration information. For more conference information including logistics and a draft agenda, view our PLACE MATTERS National Conference 2012 page.  

Questions? Please contact the Health Policy Institute.

The National Council of Family Relations will hold its 74th Annual Conference, Families and Health, from October 31 to November 2, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. HPI's Dr. Brian Smedley will speak on Building Stronger Communities for Better Health: Moving from Science to Policy and Practice at a session on Friday, November 2.

For more information, visit the National Council on Family Relations.

WASHINGTON, DC--This week marks the second anniversary of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).  It’s also the week that oral arguments begin before the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the law.  At minimum, the court will consider whether the law’s requirement that individuals who can afford health insurance coverage should carry it exceeds federal authority to regulate interstate commerce, and whether the law’s provisions to expand the Medicaid program are “coercive” to states.  Years of effort to create legislation that will expand insurance coverage, contain health care costs, and improve the quality of health care hang in the balance, and all Americans will ultimately be affected by how the high court rules.

Racial and ethnic minority Americans have an enormous stake in the law and Supreme Court’s deliberations.  Not only do many minorities face higher rates of disease, disability, and premature death than whites, they also face greater barriers to accessing high-quality health care.  These problems, however, should trouble all Americans:  given the nation’s significant demographic shifts (over half of all babies currently born in the U.S. are non-white, and by 2042 one of every two people living in the U.S. will be a person of color), the health of minorities increasingly defines the health of the nation.

Today the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies releases a policy brief, “Health Reform at the Crossroads: Will the Affordable Care Act Help Eliminate Health Inequities?” This policy brief reviews the health status of minority Americans and briefly reviews the complex factors that are associated with health inequities among majority and minority groups.

 Drawing upon research and policy analysis that the Joint Center conducted shortly after the law’s passage (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010:  Advancing Health Equity for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Populations, it assesses the potential of the ACA to address health inequities.  We find that the law has tremendous potential to significantly narrow health inequities, a goal that is squarely in the national interest.  Dozens of the provisions within the law address long-standing health and health care needs, going well beyond the controversial individual responsibility requirement and Medicaid expansion.  The Supreme Court, as well as national policymakers and their constituents, should carefully consider these issues as they weigh the ACA’s merits.

This week marks the second anniversary of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).  It’s also the week that oral arguments begin before the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of the law.  At minimum, the court will consider whether the law’s requirement that individuals who can afford health insurance coverage should carry it exceeds federal authority to regulate interstate commerce, and whether the law’s provisions to expand the Medicaid program are “coercive” to states.  Years of effort to create legislation that will expand insurance coverage, contain health care costs, and improve the quality of health care hang in the balance, and all Americans will ultimately be affected by how the high court rules.

The Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions is organizing the International Conference on Health in the African Diaspora - ICHAD 2012.  The conference will be held this summer - July 4-8,2012 - at the Renaissance Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.

Today there are nearly 160 million descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade living in the Western Hemisphere.  The conference will explore how they are doing today and what can be done to improve their health.  ICHAD 2012 is a multidisciplinary conference, with more presentations focusing on more than a dozen countries, including Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Peru, and the United States.

To learn more about the conference, click here.

Connections 2012: Because Results Matter is Healthcare Georgia Foundation's fifth statewide convening of grantees, partners, and community leaders.  The conference will feature interactive sessions and networking opprotunities with nonprofit health organizations dedicated to improving health outcomes.  Participants will have the opportunity to learn from the successes and challenges of other organizations.  The keynote address will be given by Dr. Brian Smedley of the Joint Center's Health Policy Institute.

To learn more information or to register, click here.