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Equality in Health Initiative
(New Funding Opportunity)
Racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by disease, disability and death. Indeed, the Institute of Medicine's groundbreaking report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, states that "although myriad sources contribute to these disparities, some evidence suggests that a trend in bias, prejudice and stereotyping on the part of health care providers may contribute to differences in care." Other studies indicate that even when minorities have the same insurance status, age, income and chronic conditions, they still tend to receive a lower quality of health care than Caucasians, affecting health outcomes in a number of disease areas including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, mental illness and HIV/AIDS, among others.
At its June meeting, The Trust's Board approved a new seven-year, $13 million Equality in Health Initiative, extending its Colorado Healthy People 2010 Initiative. This new effort will address health disparities by promoting good health and preventing disease among Colorado's growing medically underserved minority population. A key component of the Equality in Health Initiative will be on cultural competency, helping grantees to develop and strengthen their programs in a manner that removes barriers for accessing health care services.
Through a Request for Letters of Intent, up to 15 grantees will be selected for the first cycle of funding through a competitive process (click here for the Request for Letters of Intent; letters are due to The Trust by August 8, 2005). A second cycle, mid-way through the initiative, will provide funding to an additional 15 grantees. All grantees will receive grants averaging $60,000 annually for five years. Grantees will work to bring about improvements in one or more of the following areas: equality in treatment in medical services, equal access to care, equal environmental conditions and healthy behaviors among racial and ethnic minorities.
The Colorado Foundation for Families and Children will serve as the statewide coordinating agency for this initiative, providing day-to-day management and technical assistance to each grantee in the areas of cultural competency, program development and program implementation.
An independent evaluation of the Equality in Health Initiative will determine whether the cultural competency of the grantees changes over time and how these changes influence grantees' implementation of strategies and resulting outcomes. The evaluation will also identify what factors and conditions should be in place for an organization to bring about positive changes in cultural competency.
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