Assessing Community Needs to Combat the Opioid Epidemic in Washtenaw County, Michigan.

A needs assessment was performed to inform the strategic plan of the Washtenaw Health Initiative Opioid Project (WHI-OP). A Health Resources & Services Administration-funded preventive medicine resident supported this work by conducting and analyzing surveys and face-to-face interviews. Surveys were distributed to community organizations involved in opioid prevention and treatment and medical providers in the major health care systems. Individual interviews were conducted with key stakeholders. Overall, the top 5 needs identified were (1) pain management treatment options, (2) addressing provider stigma, (3) community education of opioids and substance abuse, (4) access to substance use disorder treatment, and (5) better guidelines to manage care for patients with substance use disorder, given the evolving Michigan prescription laws. The findings served as a foundation for a new strategic plan for the WHI-OP. The needs assessment was accomplished through the work of the preventive medicine resident in close collaboration with the WHI-OP and the Washtenaw County Health Department.

Effect of Patient Navigation on Breast Cancer Screening Among African American Medicare Beneficiaries: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence that patient navigation improves breast cancer screening rates; however, there are limited efficacy studies of its effect among African American older adult women. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of patient navigation on screening mammography among African American female Medicare beneficiaries in Baltimore, MD. DESIGN: The Cancer Prevention and Treatment Demonstration (CPTD), a multi-site study, was a randomized controlled trial conducted from April 2006 through December 2010. SETTING: Community-based and clinical setting. PARTICIPANTS: The CPTD Screening Trial enrolled 1905 community-dwelling African American female Medicare beneficiaries who were ≥65 years of age and resided in Baltimore, MD. Participants were recruited from health clinics, community centers, health fairs, mailings using Medicare rosters, and phone calls. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to either: printed educational materials on cancer screening (control group) or printed educational materials + patient navigation services designed to help participants overcome barriers to cancer screening (intervention group). MAIN MEASURE: Self-reported receipt of mammography screening within 2 years of the end of the study. KEY RESULTS: The median follow-up period for participants in this analysis was 17.8 months. In weighted multivariable logistic regression analyses, women in the intervention group had significantly higher odds of being up to date on mammography screening at the end of the follow-up period compared to women in the control group (odds ratio [OR] 2.26, 95 % confidence interval [CI]1.59-3.22). The effect of the intervention was stronger among women who were not up to date with mammography screening at enrollment (OR 3.63, 95 % CI 2.09-6.38). CONCLUSION: Patient navigation among urban African American Medicare beneficiaries increased self-reported mammography utilization. The results suggest that patient navigation for mammography screening should focus on women who are not up to date on their screening.

Provider Perceptions of the Organization's Cultural Competence Climate and Their Skills and Behaviors Targeting Patient-Centered Care for Socially At-Risk Populations.

As part of a cultural competence needs assessment study at a large academic health care system, we conducted a survey among 1,220 practicing physicians to assess their perceptions of the organization's cultural competence climate and their skills and behaviors targeting patient-centered care for culturally and socially diverse patients. Less than half of providers reported engaging in behaviors to address cultural and social barriers more than 75% of the time. In multivariable logistic regression models, providers who reported moderate or major structural problems were more likely to report low skillfulness in identifying patient mistrust (aOR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.23-3.28, p<0.01), how well patients read and write English (aOR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.03-2.57, p=0.03), and socioeconomic barriers (aOR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.14-4.01, p=0.01), than providers who reported only small or no structural problems. Improved structural support for socially and culturally complex medical encounters is needed to enhance care for socially at-risk patients.

Residents' Attitude, Knowledge, and Perceived Preparedness Toward Caring for Patients from Diverse Sociocultural Backgrounds.

Purpose: Training residents to deliver care to increasingly diverse patients in the United States is an important strategy to help alleviate racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes. Cross-cultural care training of residents continues to present challenges. This study sought to explore the associations among residents' cross-cultural attitudes, preparedness, and knowledge about disparities to better elucidate possible training needs. Methods: This cross-sectional study used web-based questionnaires from 2013 to 2014. Eighty-four internal medicine residency programs with 954 residents across the United States participated. The main outcome was perceived preparedness to care for sociocultural diverse patients. Key Results: Regression analysis showed attitude toward cross-cultural care (beta coefficient [ß]=0.57, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.49-0.64, p<0.001) and report of serving a large number of racial/ethnic minorities (ß=0.90, 95% CI: 0.56-1.24, p<0.001), and low-socioeconomic status patients (ß=0.74, 95% CI: 0.37-1.10, p<0.001) were positively associated with preparedness. Knowledge of disparities was poor and did not differ significantly across postgraduate year (PGY)-1, PGY-2, and PGY-3 residents (mean scores: 56%, 58%, and 55%, respectively; p=0.08). Conclusion: Residents' knowledge of health and healthcare disparities is poor and does not improve during training. Residents' preparedness to provide cross-cultural care is directly associated with their attitude toward cross-cultural care and their level of exposure to patients from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Future studies should examine the role of residents' cross-cultural care-related attitudes on their ability to care for diverse patients.