American College of Rheumatology partners with HHS Offices of Minority Health, Women's Health and The Surgeon General for Lupus Initiative
Working together to eliminate ethnic and racial disparities in diagnosis and treatment of lupus
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Keywords for this press release: lupus, Eliminating Health Disparities in Lupus initiative, ethnic disparities, racial disparities, early diagnosis, treatment, lupus curricula, American College of Rheumatology, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health, Office on Women’s Health, Office of the Surgeon General, National Hispanic Medical Association |
ATLANTA – The American College of Rheumatology, working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, Office on Women’s Health, and the Office of the Surgeon General, are set to launch an educational initiative aimed at eliminating ethnic and racial disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of lupus.
The initiative, Eliminating Health Disparities in Lupus (called EHDLI) will address lupus, an autoimmune disease that affects and can compromise many parts of the body, including joints, skin, kidneys, lungs, heart, blood vessels, nervous system, blood, and brain. Although it can occur from infancy to old age, peak occurrence of lupus generally strikes in women of childbearing years between ages 15 and 40. Approximately one-third of deaths occur among patients younger than 45 years of age. Women are six to 10 times more likely to have lupus than are men, and lupus is two to three times more prevalent among women of color—African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans—than among Caucasian women.
"Lupus is a serious national health problem," says Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, Garth Graham, MD, MPH. "We are diligently working together with our HHS partners to increase awareness and help women, especially minorities, achieve early diagnosis, which will give them the greatest chance for improved health and long-term survival, and we look forward to collaborating with the American College of Rheumatology in new efforts to educate health professionals now in practice as well as in training."
The cause of lupus is not known but it is likely that there is no single cause but a combination of genetic, environmental, and possibly hormonal factors that work together to cause the disease. In addition to creating new lupus curricula, the ACR will develop and distribute tools to support the recognition of lupus and the impact of health disparities. These tools will be designed to increase the number of at-risk patients receiving educational interventions from their health care professionals.
"We are approaching the problem of disparities in healthcare from multiple angles," says Elena Rios, MD, MSPH, of the National Hispanic Medical Association, about the different components of this initiative. "To reach the people who need it most, we must work to educate health care teams and be sensitive to cultural differences – ensuring that appropriate messages about lupus are delivered in the most effective way."
An international group of lupus experts, educators and medical professionals who have demonstrated a commitment to lupus has been convened. This group will work to enhance lupus curricula at medical, nursing and health professional schools – better preparing the workforce to identify lupus in populations disproportionately affected by the disease.
"The American College of Rheumatology is pleased to work on this initiative, which will not only lead to a better-prepared workforce," explains ACR President and practicing rheumatologist, Stanley B. Cohen, MD, "but will enable us to effectively partner with patients to positively impact outcomes."
In addition to traditional methods of educational outreach, the initiative will utilize the most current communication vehicles (e.g., patient/provider Web sites, social media outlets, podcasts, webinars, etc.) to disseminate valuable information about lupus.
For more information about the EHDLI initiative, contact Lisa Amaker at .
The ACR is an organization committed to advancing rheumatology. For more information about the ACR, visit www.rheumatology.org.
