Baylor, VA Establish Program to Eliminate Racial, Ethnic Disparities

The Excellence Centers to Eliminate Ethnic/Racial Disparities (EXCEED) program, a new joint endeavor between Baylor College of Medicine and the Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center, recently held its first Community Education Outreach advisory board meeting.

CEO members are: Kassahun Bisrat, executive director of the Alliance for Multicultural Community Services; Charlesetta Deason, principal of Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions; Dr. Margaret A. Goetz, director of Medical Bridges and Promotoras de Salud; Charlene Hunter James, director of the Houston/Harris County Area Agency on Aging; Dr. Jane Mahoney, assistant professor at The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston; Amye Webster, health education specialist at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston HealthCare Systems and board member of the Asian American Health Coalition; Dr. Howard R. Epps, clinical instructor in orthopedic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Medical School at Houston; Dr. Lynna Littleton, associate professor of clinical nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; Jabari Craft, Texas Southern University pre-medical student majoring in bioscience; Cassandra Harris, chairperson of the Houston Chapter of the National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer; and Michael Solar, principal attorney of Solar and Associates and League of United Latin American Citizens community service awardee.

Dr. Carol M. Ashton, director of the Houston VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence and professor of medicine and medical ethics at Baylor, is the principal investigator of the $7.8 million EXCEED program that focuses on racial and ethnic variations in medical interactions.

"Racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care use are among the most important issues facing health services research today. Research indicates that social and societal factors, such as poverty and social class, are strong influences on utilization of care. The effectiveness of doctor-patient communication skills during medical care is also known to affect health outcomes, and the evidence suggests that doctors have poorer communication skills with minority patients," said Dr. Ashton. "We need to identify the aspects of doctor-patient communication that can be improved, so that patients and families can learn how to become more powerful communicators, and obtain better health outcomes."

The EXCEED program features an Information Dissemination and Educational/Academic Liaison Core that will conduct "How to Talk to Your Doctor" educational workshops and community outreach efforts.

"Community input is key to making the best program possible and our CEOs possess a wealth of knowledge and experience that can enhance our effort," said Dr. Ashton. "At our first meeting, CEOs discussed the importance of literacy in health programming, the need for understandable language in health education, the benefit of working with local groups and clinics, and the need to impact health policy. At future CEO meetings, Baylor and VA investigators will be invited to talk about their research and intervention programs."

The EXCEED initiative was developed to respond to the Department of Health and Human Services' Initiative on Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities, and the U.S. Surgeon General's Healthy People 2010 Goals. The program is funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and co-funded by the National Institutes of Health, Office for Research on Minority Health. For more information about the local EXCEED initiative, call (713) 558-4568.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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