To increase access to health care, each community must address minority clients' specific cultural mores, which often conflict with those of the health care provider. Three sources of such cultural conflict are (1) language; (2) folk beliefs; and (3) time orientation. (BJV)

Argues that current reductions in public support for health care and the rise of a free market health care system will increase the death rate and life expectancy disparities that exist between Black and White Americans. (GC)

Discusses a study of Blacks who shifted from exclusive use of modern orthodox medical care to use of an alternative natural system of health care known as naprapathy. Suggests that conversion to regular use of naprapathy involves a sequential, dynamic, and reflective experiential process. (Author/MJL)

A community-based, drop-in, self-help wellness center representing an empowerment approach to developing culturally appropriate health promotion for black women is described. The program, affiliated services, and jointly sponsored programs are reviewed. Relationships with supporting organizations, strengths and pitfalls of the model, and program…

Recommendations resulting from a 1977 conference, "Health Policy, Health Planning and Financing the Future of Health Care for Blacks in America," are presented. The recommendations concern changes in the health care system, community involvement, government regulation, the formation of Black interest groups and lobbies, and support for national…

Traces the history and underlying causes of health care discrimination and deprivation for Blacks compared with other Americans. This disparity is a result of policymakers' attempt to frame the problem in nonracial terms, physicians' attitudes, and scientific myths about Black inferiority. Calls for an elimination of institutional racism in health…

Home visiting programs must be sensitive and responsive to the cultural ecology of their participants. Staff of home visiting programs need to assess the cultural context of the program, establish a dialog with the client population regarding program goals, attend to the culture of the program staff, and consider alternative program formulas. (MDM)

The Carter administration's position on health care focuses on cost containment, nutrition, and child care. While these are significant issues, they do not address the basic reorganization needed in the health industry if it is to be responsive to all citizens regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, and socioeconomic status. (Author/GC)

Lack of data on mental health status of Blacks precludes effective prevention programing. Any prevention program must reflect the social, psychological, and physical milieu of the individual, but ideological biases toward preventive health often deny the importance of political factors that create an environment in the Black community that is…

Examines the effects of Title VI and the Social Security Amendments of 1965 on public health policy and on equal access to hospital and physician services. Explores the implications of federal health budget reductions on access to medical care by the poor and the elderly. (Author/MJL)

This hearing was held in response to a request from the Congressional Black Caucus, which asked the subcommittees to find out if the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was doing everything possible to reduce infant mortality, especially the high death rate experienced by Blacks. The hearing opened with statements by both subcommittee…

In the past few years there has been an increase in the discussion of health care as a right. Although the statement that health care is a right sounds good and altruistic, it does not deal with the political or economic realities of health care, especially for blacks. The health care industry represents approximately 8% of the Gross National…

The health of urban America, particularly that of minority citizens who live in urban America, is so poor in comparison to that of the rest of our nation's citizens that it constitutes a national disgrace and an embarrassment. (Author/MW)

Analysis of racism has shifted in focus over the years from concentration on individual/interpersonal processes to considerations of organizational variables that maintain racist outcomes. The concept of organizational or institutional racism refers to processes, behaviors, policies, or procedures that covertly sanction unequal access to goods and…

This double issue of the "Family Resource Coalition Report" contains 13 articles focusing on culture and family-centered practice, along with a resource section listing organizations, trainers, consultants, and publications. The following articles are included: (1) "Developing a Knowledge Base to Support Cultural Competence"…