Social Determinants of Health Summit September 16, 2015









August 27, 2015
Dear Health Equity Stakeholder):
The month of April is National Minority Health [Awareness] Month. During April, expectations are that as a nation we will focus more keenly on reducing and eliminating health disparities that consistently and disproportionately affect minority populations. 

However, the Commission on Health Equity and the Connecticut Multicultural Health Partnership know that a month of focused intense activity is not enough! Therefore, in order to facilitate a “health in all practices, programs, services, and funding decisions” we seek to expand and partner with groups and organizations that are not generally engaged in overt discussions and actions related to “health.” 

In order to ensure optimal health in all sectors and systems for all populations, especially members of minority groups, we, the members of the Multicultural Health Partnership and the Commission on Health Equity invite you to a “Social Determinants of Health Summit”. The Summit will allow you and us to explore prevention and intervention strategies, including the federally promulgated Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Standards (CLAS) in health and health care, that reduce or eliminate health disparities.

We need and value your input and involvement; however, if you are unable to attend the Summit, please send a designee. The Summit is scheduled for: September 16, 2015 from 12:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. at the Lyceum located at 227 Lawrence St., Hartford, CT.
Lunch will be served.


This year, the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity’s theme, “30 Years of Advancing Health Equity | The Heckler Report: A Force for Ending Health Disparities in America” provides us with an opportunity to look backwards for inspiration that propels us forward. 2015 marks:
• • •
25 years since the establishment of the CDC’s Office of Minority Health and Health Equity;
30 years
since the release of the Heckler Report (Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health); and
100 years since the establishment of National Negro Health Week by Dr. Booker T. Washington and others (1915). This observance ended in 1951
In 2009 the Connecticut Department of Public Health published the “2009 Connecticut Health Disparities Report”. The Report clearly documents the nature and extent of health disparities among members of minority populations in Connecticut. Combined with changing population demographics in the State, the 2009 report is a call to action. Population increases in

Connecticut are occurring among those who are the poorest, the least healthy, the most poorly educated and housed, and of limited English proficiency who tend to reside in neighborhoods that do not support optimal health. The health of minority populations determines the social and economic health of the state and the nation. Therefore it behooves us to use our collective energy and resources to identify, modify, and ultimately eliminate the powerful and pervasive social determinants of health that disproportionately impact emerging and minority populations and people with limited English proficiency.
There is no better time than now and no more compelling reasons than the ones above to advance a Call-To-Action to collectively enhance health equity!
Please confirm your attendance by contacting Christi Holmes at cgsstaples@gmail.com or cgsholmes@gmail.com
We hope you or your designee will join us. Together, in partnership, we can reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities!
Yours truly,

Stacey Brown, PhD, Chair Glenn Cassis, Chair Multicultural Health Partnership Commission on Health Equity 

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