CMSHealthDisparities

ACADEMIC PARTNERS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) has enlisted Baylor College of Medicine to assist in the research of various special studies. The following are related links summarizing various projects currently underway:

Baylor College of Medicine chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center (CDRC)

http://www.bcm.edu/cdrc/

CDRC provides an integrated approach to research, education, demonstration projects, community programs, and promotion of health policy to reduce health disparities among culturally diverse and at-risk populations. CDRC projects are as follows:

• Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC)

  http://iccnetwork.org/ and http://ccc.iccnetwork.org/

  ICC is the largest national, not-for-profit organization that promotes policies, programs, partnerships and research to eliminate the unequal burden of health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities and underserved populations in the United States and associated territories. Baylor College of Medicine assumes fiscal and organizational management for the ICC and provides the Council with a national office and Web sites. The ICC web sites include news updates, contacts across the ICC national network, information about the regional meetings on minorities, the medical priority and cancer, as well as a variety of other resources. The ICC’s Cancer Fact Sheets (http://iccnetwork.org/cancerfacts/) and the Cultural Competence in Cancer Care: A Health Care Professional’s Passport pocket guide (http://iccnetwork.org/pocketguide/) are two of the most popular resources provided.

• Eliminating Disparities in Clinical Trials (EDICT) Project

  http://www.bcm.edu/edict/

  The EDICT project was devoted to assessing problems and prescribing policy solutions related to improving participation of underrepresented groups in clinical trials. The Web site includes a downloadable booklet of policy recommendations, a reading room consisting of short thought pieces and other resources.

• EDICT BackPack Project

  http://www.bcm.edu/edict/backpack/

  The EDICT BackPack Project a four year study (2005-2009) compiled information about policies, programs, projects, promising practices, and other resources that have been demonstrated to help eliminate disparities in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups in clinical trials and other research. Visitors are invited to review posted protocol and also to contribute additional nominations.

• EDICT CLAS and Clinical Trials Project

  http://www.bcm.edu/edict/clas-act/

  The goal of the EDICT CLAS-ACT Project a four year study (2005-2009) was to increase the implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) standards in clinical trials and other research activities. These standards were developed by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (OMH). Web-based and downloadable CLAS-ACT self-assessments help researchers and research organizations to implement these standards consistently and systematically from participant recruitment through all study phases.

• Baylor College of Medicine Multicultural Patient Care Web Site CDRC’s

  http://www.bcm.edu/mpc/

  The multicultural patient care Web site provides users with tools and knowledge to help inform encounters with patients from different cultures. Culture and its effects on interpersonal interactions are influenced by a broad spectrum of individual and social qualities, such as race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, class, gender, and socioeconomic status. While none of these cultural contributors stands alone in determining a patient’s “culture,” each one distinctly shapes the individual patient and the interactions you will have with the individual.