News
NAFC Helps To Narrow Health Disparities
On Monday, March 10, National Association For Continence Executive Director Nancy Muller joined executives from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Medicaid Health Plans of America as panelists speaking on “Best Practices.”
March 13, 2008 (Charleston, SC) — Though health inequities between various ethnic groups shrank from 1966 to 1980, they have widened from 1980 to 2002, according to researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (Krieger et al., 2008).1
“Living Better Through Communication,” the forum that took place on March 10, was a special event designed to share successful strategies aimed at reaching underserved minorities to promote preventive care and better quality living. In her presentation, Ms. Muller pointed out NAFC’s own nationwide survey results that Latinas are the least likely of any culture or racial group in America to speak to their friends or relatives, much less a healthcare provider, about their bladder health. The same research found that half of all Hispanic women know someone who has experienced leakage of urine triggered by common everyday activities such as laughing, sneezing, lifting and coughing, known medically as stress urinary incontinence (SUI). She also spoke of recently published research by Daneshgari et al. (2008) revealing that Hispanic women report more SUI and SUI mixed with urge incontinence than non-Hispanic white women.2 These higher prevalences are found to be largely associated with ethnic differences in parity, body mass index, diabetes, and complete hysterectomy including the removal of ovaries. Earlier published research by Swift et al. (2005), the Pelvic Organ Support Study, reported a strong risk-adjusted positive association between Hispanic ethnicity and pelvic organ prolapse, a closely related pelvic floor disorder. 3
On the basis of such research, NAFC has augmented its outreach to help close the gap in health disparities in Hispanic communities and meet a largely unserved need. NAFC launched its initiative in 2001 with funding from the Medtronic Foundation and continues to aggressively introduce additional ways to educate and motivate Hispanics about treatment for bladder and bowel control problems. Upon completing focus groups with Spanish speaking women in different metropolitan cities of the U.S. to help guide its efforts, NAFC produced and broadcast nationwide television public service announcements on the topic with the generous help of Univision Communications Inc. NAFC is currently producing new, gender-specific consumer educational literature in Spanish to respond to toll-free callers and to supply practices.
“Living Better Through Communication,” the forum that took place on March 10, was a special event designed to share successful strategies aimed at reaching underserved minorities to promote preventive care and better quality living. In her presentation, Ms. Muller pointed out NAFC’s own nationwide survey results that Latinas are the least likely of any culture or racial group in America to speak to their friends or relatives, much less a healthcare provider, about their bladder health. The same research found that half of all Hispanic women know someone who has experienced leakage of urine triggered by common everyday activities such as laughing, sneezing, lifting and coughing, known medically as stress urinary incontinence (SUI). She also spoke of recently published research by Daneshgari et al. (2008) revealing that Hispanic women report more SUI and SUI mixed with urge incontinence than non-Hispanic white women.2 These higher prevalences are found to be largely associated with ethnic differences in parity, body mass index, diabetes, and complete hysterectomy including the removal of ovaries. Earlier published research by Swift et al. (2005), the Pelvic Organ Support Study, reported a strong risk-adjusted positive association between Hispanic ethnicity and pelvic organ prolapse, a closely related pelvic floor disorder. 3
On the basis of such research, NAFC has augmented its outreach to help close the gap in health disparities in Hispanic communities and meet a largely unserved need. NAFC launched its initiative in 2001 with funding from the Medtronic Foundation and continues to aggressively introduce additional ways to educate and motivate Hispanics about treatment for bladder and bowel control problems. Upon completing focus groups with Spanish speaking women in different metropolitan cities of the U.S. to help guide its efforts, NAFC produced and broadcast nationwide television public service announcements on the topic with the generous help of Univision Communications Inc. NAFC is currently producing new, gender-specific consumer educational literature in Spanish to respond to toll-free callers and to supply practices.
