Health Equity for Diverse Populations

OHE works to reduce health disparities for socially disadvantaged and underserved populations.

This includes:

• African Americans
• American Indian/Alaskan Native
• Hispanics/Latinos
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT)
• Rural Health Communities

African Americans

Leading health disparity indicators for African Americans—the second largest minority group in the US—include heart disease, infant mortality, and diabetes.

We address their most prevalent needs by partnering with stakeholders to reduce the burden of health conditions and improve health equity.  

Who are our federal partners?

• HHS Office of Minority Health
• Million Hearts

Read the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)'s report:
Chartbook on Health Care for Blacks: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
(PDF - 3 MB)

American Indian/Alaskan Native

We partner with federal agencies, like the Indian Health Service (IHS) and tribal communities. Together, we work to increase access to health professionals, health centers, and affordable health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

We do this to eliminate tribal health inequities.

By creating opportunities for IHS facilities and tribal organizations to collaborate, we improve access to care. These natural partners provide culturally acceptable, accessible, affordable health care to improve the lives of tribal populations.

What are our priorities?

To help tribal organizations maximize the impact of key government programs, we, along with IHS, identified the following priorities:

• Increase urban Indian health participation in the Health Center Program.
• Improve use of Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designation to tribal populations
  • Shortage Designation criteria:
    • We automatically designated members of Indian tribes as population HPSAs.
    • We consider outpatient health programs or facilities operated by a tribe or tribal organization under the Indian Self-Determination Act, or by an urban Indian organization receiving funds under Title V of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to be Federally Qualified Health Centers. Thus, they are auto-HPSAs.
• Support the workforce through health professions programs and the National Health Service Corps.
• Enhance participation in the HRSA competitive grants process.
• Provide greater technical assistance from HRSA regional offices.

Who are our partners?

• Indian Health Service
• National Council of Urban Indian Health
• National Indian Health Board

Which programs do we offer this population?

• Grants for Underserved Populations
• Loans & Scholarships

What other federal resources are available?

• White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education: Tribal Colleges and Universities
• HRSA, IHS, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): Tribal Suicide Prevention

Which policies direct our work?

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Tribal Consultation Policy (PDF – 130 KB)
• Health Resources for American Indian/Alaska Native Women and Families (PDF - 88 KB)

Hispanics and Latinos

We provide information on culturally competent resources to reduce the burden of health disparities in the Hispanic/Latino population.

Who are our federal partners?

• HHS Office of Minority Health
• Organ Donation | Donación de Órganos

Review NIH's research:
National Institutes of Health (NIH): Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (2006 - 2018)

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens are a diverse community. But they share a common need for culturally competent health care that recognizes and responds to specific medical risks.

The LGBT community faces greater health challenges than their heterosexual peers.

This is due to a combination of the following:

• Differences in sexual behavior
• Social and structural inequities (e.g. stigma and discrimination)

How do we address healthcare for the LGBT community?

Primary Care
The National LGBT Health Education Center

• Supported through a cooperative agreement with The Fenway Institute
• Helps community health centers improve access for LGBT populations.
• Consults with, and develops curricula for, health centers focused on caring for LGBT people
• Fenway Health is a HRSA-supported health center and one of the largest focused on LGBT health.

HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS more severely impacts the LGBT community than any other group in the US.

The HIV/AIDS Bureau leads several efforts including:

• Ryan White Program
  • ​Works with cities, states, and local community-based organizations
  • Provides HIV-related services to more than half a million people each year
  • For those without sufficient health care coverage or financial resources to cope with the disease
• Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program Enhancing Engagement and Retention in Quality HIV Care for Transgender Women of Color
  • A multi-site demonstration project
  • Funds support organizations that will design, implement, and evaluate innovative interventions
  • Goal is to improve timely entry, engagement, and retention in quality HIV care for transgender women of color living with HIV

Access health workforce training and guidance:

• LGBT Training Curricula for Behavioral Health and Primary Care Practitioners
  (PDF - 212 KB)
• Cultural Competency Curriculum: Nurses' Health Education about LGBT Elders
• Transgender HIV/AIDS Health Services Best Practice Guidelines (PDF - 1.1 MB)

Read reports from our partners:

• HHS: HHS Reports on LGBT Health
• HHS: Healthy People 2020: LGBT Health
• The National Academies: The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding