Office of Minority Health

Grantee Information

State of Maine, Department of Health and Human Services
286 Water Street Kay Bank Plaza 8th Floor SHS #11, Augusta, ME 04333
(207) 287-4844 (Phone)
(207) 287-9058 (Fax)
http://www.maine.gov/dhhs

The purpose of the Maine Office of Minority Health is to eliminate health disparities among minorities, improve the health of Maine's racial and ethnic minority communities and promote community participation in Office planning and decision-making processes.

Grant Project Information

FY10 State Partnership Grant Program to Improve Minority Health
$140,000
Lisa Sockabasin
(208) 287-4844
lisa.sockabasin@maine.gov

Abstract

This State Partnership project aims to address a number of problems that negatively affect minority populations, particularly African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians and Alaskan Natives. First of all, Maine has a lack of adequate data on minority populations. Second, the state needs to improve and increase culturally and linguistically competent practices and policies. Third, the state needs to address health disparities within minority communities. Finally, the state does not employ an informed and skilled workforce that can provide quality health service to racial and ethnic minorities. This project, for the most part, focuses on addressing systems-level change through leadership engagement and community mobilization. The Office of Minority Health will develop comprehensive health assessments of minority populations to gauge the need for health-related data on minority populations. In order to increase culturally competent practices and policies, the office will sponsor trainings through a hospital clinic. A National Plan for Action plan will be used to stress collaboration as a crucial component to achieving health equality. Finally, the office will promote leadership opportunities for minority communities and develop a more proficient workforce. The success of the project will be determined based on the evaluation results. Using a mixed-method approach, the project will develop surveys and tracking forms to collect baseline, process and outcome data.

OMH objective(s) toward which the project's results most contribute:

• Increased awareness, education, and outreach to address racial/ethnic minority health and health disparities problems
• Strengthened leadership and coordination to leverage resources and enhance effectiveness and efficiency of individual and collective efforts (including, but not limited to, research and data)

Key Healthy People 2010 objectives or subobjectives toward which your project's results most contribute (see Appendix 3 of OMH's Evaluation Planning Guidelines):

Healthy People objectives were not identified.