Aging & Society: Eighth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

With an ever-changing healthcare structure, hospital systems have demonstrated an increased focus on population health using multiple strategies including better integration of behavioral health professionals into care plans as well as improved use of information technology systems and other interventions. However, health disparities and care gaps for people of color are still very present, in part due to under education and lack of community-based outreach in communities of color. I propose that to enhance population health efforts and improvements, health systems must become more actively engaged with patients of color in culturally conscious ways. It has been shown that many people of color, particularly older generations, have a historical distrust of formal medical settings. As a result these groups receive less preventive care, which becomes increasingly important and recommended for the aging population. Furthermore, these groups obtain a great deal of health education and information from social and informal supports, such as faith organizations, barbershops and salons, and community centers. Individual programs and systems attempting this approach already exist in screenings for hypertension and colorectal cancer in barbershops in Harlem, New York, and the Mount Carmel Health System Church Partnership Program in Columbus, Ohio. Efforts to increase health literacy should include outreaching communities, making better connections with the entities people trust and interact with most, and ensuring that communities are receiving accurate information. This is a challenge to health systems to be creative and proactive in seeking out and reaching classically under-served populations to truly work towards a healthier society.