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Information and opportunities

Do Some Pre-Conference Networking!
Use this online tool

A new tool allows Diversity Rx conference attendees and presenters to network with each other before, during and after the conference (September 21-24, Minneapolis). Registered participants can enter contact details and information about expertise, organizations, and key projects. Others attending the conference can search using the same criteria.

Get a Translated Guide to Emergency Prep
More than 40 languages on Drexel Site

This new online national resource center focuses on the public health preparedness needs of culturally diverse communities. A joint initiative of the Drexel University School of Public Health’s Center for Health Equality and the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health. Site features cross-referenced annotated resources in over 40 languages.


Joint Commission Improves Website
Redesign offers easier navigation

The Joint Commission’s Hospitals, Language, and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation study has updated and redesigned its website with easier to navigate pages, downloadable reports and resources, and additional links. Here’s where you can access information on Joint Commission standards on language and culture issues.

CDC Compiles Health Disparities Info
Bibliography simplifies research

This bibliography contains publication citations written by CDC staff and partners since 2005. Included are peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and monographs focusing on the United States.


MedlinePlus Patient Info Now in Various Languages
2500 pieces in more than 40 languages

MedlinePlus now includes a multilingual feature, providing access to high quality health information in languages other than English and Spanish. The collection contains over 2,500 links to information in more than 40 languages and covers nearly 250 health topics.

Disparities TV Show Offers Great Web Resources
E-mail video clips plus interactive tools

This site features send-to-a-friend video clips of the recent 4-part PBS documentary series on health disparities, Unnatural Causes, as well as interactive activities, case studies, tools for action, a directory of organizations that are working on health equity initiatives, and a moderated forum.

What’s the Link between "Race" and Genetics?
Casual use of term, "race," limits understanding

Human genome sequencing offers new tools to determine if health disparities are actually due to biological differences. This article discusses genetic variation among African Americans and Hispanic Americans and its implications for "race," and concludes that the casual use of "race" to define groups in biomedical research limits understanding of the complex disease etiology and risk factors driving health disparities.

Get Our New Guide on Using Translated Materials
Developed for Minnesota providers

Get tips on using translations for LEP patients in this new Exchange-produced guide: In Translation: How interpreters and providers can use translated health education materials for better patient care. This downloadable PDF also includes a cautionary note about expecting interpreters to make sight translations of important print documents. Developed by The Exchange, this piece was also approved by a panel of Minnesota interpreters.

New Materials in Exchange Library
Nearly 3000 translated materials available online to members

Recently added or updated materials include these translations in multiple languages:

• From the Centers for Disease Control, in English and Spanish:
  • Bacterial Vaginosis: The Facts
  • Chlamydia: The Facts
  • Gonorrhea: The Facts
  • Genital Herpes: The Facts
  • Genital HPV: The Facts
  • Pelvic Inflammatory Disease: The Facts
  • STDs and Pregnancy: The Facts
  • Trichomoniasis: The Facts
• From Hospice Minnesota, in English and Hmong:
  • What Is Hospice?
• From the Minnesota Department of Human Services:
  • MFIP Self-Screen, in Arabic, Bosnian, English, Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese
  • MHCP Individualized Education Program (IEP) Services, in Arabic, Bosnian, English, Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Oromo, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese
  • Minnesota Health Care Programs, in English, Hmong, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese
• From the Multicultural Perinatal Network: in English, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese:
  • Comfort Measures During Labor
  • Newborn Babies Need…
  • Newborn Babies… What People Worry About
• From the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, in English, Hmong and Russian:
  • Keeping Your Baby Healthy
  • Common Respiratory Illnesses
  • Keeping Your Teeth Healthy
  • Living with Disabilities in the United States
  • Medicaid and Health Insurance
  • Personal and Home Hygiene
  • Healthy Pregnancy
  • Watching Your Child Grow
• From the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning, in English, Hmong, Somali and Spanish:
  • Autism: Is This Your Child?

Major diversity conference set for Minneapolis
Diversity Rx session is in September, 2008

Planners for the sixth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations have chosen Minneapolis as the site for the September 2008 event. Previous years’ conferences have showcased developments in cultural competence as an essential element in reducing health disparities. Find proceedings from the 5th annual conference (and earlier), and learn more about the conference at the Diversity Rx website.