The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is an American federal agency created in 1986. It is one of the most significant outcomes of the 1985 Secretary's Task Force ''Report on Black and Minority Health'', also known as the "

Heckler Report The Heckler Report, officially the ''Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health'', was a landmark 1985 report published by the US Government. It is named after Margaret Heckler, who was Secretary of the Department of Health ...

". The Heckler report "was a landmark effort in analyzing and synthesizing the present state of knowledge

n 1985 N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

of the major factors that contribute to the health status of Blacks, Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans." The Office the Heckler Report established is dedicated to improving the health of racial and

ethnic minority The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

populations through the development of health policies and programs that will help eliminate

health disparities Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequiti ...

. OMH was reauthorized by the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...

of 2010 (P.L. 111-148). How OMH works: OMH works in partnership with communities and organizations in the

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

and

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

s. These collaborations support a systems approach for eliminating health disparities, national planning to identify priorities, and coordinated responses through focused initiatives. OMH provides funding to state offices of minority health, multicultural health, and

health equity Health equity arises from access to the social determinants of health, specifically from wealth, power and prestige. Individuals who have consistently been deprived of these three determinants are significantly disadvantaged from health inequitie ...

; community and faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, tribes and tribal organizations; and other organizations dedicated to improving health.

National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA)

The purpose is to improve nationwide cohesion and coordination of strategies and actions to eliminate health disparities and achieve health equity. The NPA has five goals: increasing awareness; strengthening leadership at all levels; improving health and healthcare outcomes; improving

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

and

linguistic competence In linguistics, linguistic competence is the system of unconscious knowledge that one knows when they know a language. It is distinguished from linguistic performance, which includes all other factors that allow one to use one's language in practi ...

; and improving data availability, and coordination, utilization, and diffusion of research and evaluation outcomes.

OMH Resource Center

The OMH Resource Center is a one stop shop for minority health literature, research, and referrals. The center also provides technical assistance to community organizations on

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. Cultural and Linguistic Competency: OMH is committed to culturally and linguistically competent systems that will ensure the needs of minority communities are integrated and addressed within health-related programs across the nation.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Office of Minority Health Medical and health organizations based in Maryland Government agencies established in 1986 Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health Race and health in the United States