Office of Minority Health

Grantee

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Concord, NH 03301

Project: New Hampshire State Partnership Grant Program to Improve Minority Health
Amount: $132,826

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is the largest agency in the state government and is responsible for the health, safety and wellbeing of citizens statewide. It provides services for individuals, children, families and seniors, administering a wide array of programs.  Housed within the department, the Office of Minority Health and Refugee Affairs is the lead state office on health disparities and minorities. 

Project Abstract

New Hampshire’s State Partnership Grant will be used for two main purposes: to increase access to and awareness of health insurance options for the state’s minority and underserved populations and to strengthen statewide partnerships to reduce health disparities and promote health equity.  
To address issues around access to insurance and care, the Office of Minority Health and Refugee Affairs will develop a train-the-trainer program and deliver it to the New Hampshire Insurance Department-designated consumer assistance entities and community-connected organizations. In addition, the office plans to:

• Hire and train five access outreach workers to conduct culturally and linguistically appropriate information sessions about the  Affordable Care Act and health insurance marketplace for uninsured minorities and underserved individuals
• Conduct media outreach and education
• Serve as the hub of state activity and information on health disparities
• Strengthen the New Hampshire Health and Equity Partnership to facilitate the state’s ability to improve minority health 

The expected outcomes and associated performance measures for this project are:

• At least 80 percent of coordinated consumer assistance entities and community-connected organizations will gain capacity to reach and educate uninsured minorities and underserved individuals about the health insurance marketplace and how to enroll. This outcome will be measured through the number of train-the-trainer sessions, the percentage of trainers trained and the percentage of trainees obtaining needed skills and knowledge .
• A target of 25,000 uninsured minority and underserved New Hampshire residents will receive information about the Affordable Care Act over two years. Success will be measured by the number of information and media sessions held and by the number of uninsured minority and underserved individuals reached by trained individuals and through information/media sessions. 
• Minority and underserved communities receiving Affordable Care Act information will have greater awareness of benefits and of how to enroll in health insurance. This outcome will be measured by the percentage of training participants indicating increased awareness after outreach.
• Partnerships with Affordable Care Act outreach organizations and New Hampshire Health and Equity Partnership members will be strengthened. This will be measured by the number of new partnerships formed, number of new activities to reduce health disparities and percentage of New Hampshire Health and Equity Partnership members indicating increased awareness of the Affordable Care Act.

New Hampshire DHHS will evaluate the program in terms of both process and outcomes.

Objective

• Increased awareness, education and outreach to address racial/ethnic minority health and health disparities problems

• Improved access to, and appropriate utilization of, health and other community-based services and systems through user-centered design for racial/ethnic minorities (e.g., health IT, culturally/ linguistically appropriate services, service provider education/ training, workforce diversity)

  
Healthy People 2020 objective toward which the project’s results contribute

• Increase the proportion of persons with health insurance