Prioritize minority outreach this April

April is National Minority Health Month. It’s a perfect opportunity to increase your outreach efforts to racial and ethnic minority populations, which studies show have more difficulty accessing health care. Some minority groups also are at greater risk of developing certain diseases.

  • Visit the Office of Minority Health online to get information about health equity and minority outreach. Commit to reaching a broad section of your community. You can also find a great toolkit to help end health disparities while you’re there.
  • Participate in the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities by taking the online partner pledge.
  • Reach out to Latino and African American patients you have served and their families. They can provide testimonials about how you helped their loved one.
  • Make sure your agency information, education and communication is available in Spanish as well as English. Although many in this group are fluent in English, many others are not or may feel more comfortable with the Spanish language. In addition, hospice agencies should develop clear, concise, informative collateral on end-of-life issues in both English and Spanish. Arrange to have some of your materials on display at health clinics that serve Hispanics. TAG Partners has developed some informative patient action flyers in both English and Spanish.
  • Reach out and partner with groups that serve the minority markets, including community health centers, charitable organizations, chambers of commerce and groups that work with migrant populations. Offer to help educate the groups they serve about various health issues.
  • Don’t forget about Spanish-language media. Local radio stations and newspapers often will offer a discount or free spot for health care education. Increasing your visibility on these platforms will help you carve your spot in this community’s consciousness.
  • Build your library of health education materials in Spanish by visiting www.cdc.gov and searching for Spanish fact sheets on conditions commonly seen in your community. Distribute them in your service area.

March 2014: Get ready to shine a spotlight on volunteers

Volunteers provide essential services to hospice and home care companies across the nation. We couldn’t do it without them – and I’m sure all of us try to make it a point to let them know that we appreciate them. A great opportunity to do that is coming up next month. National Volunteer Week is April 6-April 13. It’s also a great time to recognize the efforts of staff members who take the time to volunteer elsewhere in the community.

  • Start off the week by distributing appreciative cards personalized with your agency’s logo. Include a small token to help make their day, such as a piece of candy to correspond to the card’s message. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/giveaway.php.
  • Host a volunteer appreciation luncheon. Recognize your top volunteers with gifts of appreciation personalized with your agency’s logo. Get them at http://theadamgrp.espwebsite.com/.
  • Make sure all your volunteers know how much you value their health. Hand out bottles of personalized, pocket-size bottles Mist-a-Germ hand sanitizing spray.Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/mistagerm.php.

This April is National Minority Health Month. It’s time to step up your efforts to reach out to your community’s aging minority populations. In addition to different minority groups having an increased risk of developing certain diseases, other factors also contribute to minority health disparities, including language barriers and income levels.  

National Public Health Week is April 4-April 13. It’s a great time to promote your agency while also working to improve the overall health of your community.

  • Participate in community health fairs this month. Be sure to have stacks of disease-specific flyers on hand to distribute to attendees. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.
  • Make sure the physicians in your service area know the rules when it comes to referring to home care by giving them a handy pocket guide to Medicare. Help them learn what’s appropriate and improve your community’s overall health in the process. Get it at www.tagwebstore.com/pocket-guide-to-medicare.php.
  • Give patients and potential patients a powerful tool to help track and improve their personal health. Health log books and patient scorecard logs personalized to your agency not only empower them to take better care of themselves, but they help physicians get the information they need, and also serve as a constant reminder of your agency and its services. Get them at www.tagwebstore.com/healthlog.php and www.tagwebstore.com/patient-scorecard-logs.php.

Plan for April: More Outreach

April is an incredibly important month in health care. There are tons of observances you can leverage to bolster your marketing plans, but we’re going to focus on three this time.

April is National Minority Health Month. It’s a great time to increase your efforts to reach your community’s racial and ethnic minority populations. Study after study shows that these groups have more difficulty accessing health care for a number of reasons. In addition, some minority groups are at greater risk of developing certain diseases. This month, focus on your community’s Hispanic population. Although many Hispanics speak English fluently, many others are more comfortable receiving information in Spanish.

  • Drop by the offices of physicians and by clinics that serve your community’s Latino population. Leave behind disease-specific brochures in Spanish that focus on how home health can help. Find a selection of ready-made brochures that include topics such as diabetes, heart disease, CHF, COPD and pneumonia – all in Spanish – at www.tagwebstore.com/brochure.php.
  • Zone Flyers are great tools to help patients with various illnesses know when their symptoms warrant a call to their home health nurse or to 911. This new line of Spanish Zone Flyers will give Spanish-speaking patients an easy guide that can help them improve their health. Hand them out to your own Spanish-speaking patients, and leave some for the hospital discharge planners in your area. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/zone-flyer.php.
  • Put your agency’s name in the hands of every prospective client while giving them a tool that will help them improve the health care they receive and their relationships with their doctors. Distribute our popular My Health Logs (now in Spanish) at the offices of your local primary care physicians or other doctors who see a large number of Hispanic seniors in your community. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/healthlog.php.

Don’t forget: April 7 is World Health Day. The day is celebrated each year to mark the anniversary of the World Health Organization’s founding in 1948. This year’s theme is High Blood Pressure. The condition is a problem throughout the United States and the world. Take a stand for blood pressure education in your community.

  • Call on your local internists and family practice physicians to explain how your program can help meet the needs of patients with hypertension. Incorporate hypertension-specific patient education guides into your program to demonstrate the added attention these patients will receive from your agency. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-education-guides.php. Leave behind blood pressure logs that their patients can use to track their blood pressure readings. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/bloodpressurelog.php.
  • Leave a stack of high blood pressure flyers in your local hospital ER waiting rooms. Drop them off in the evening to catch those late-night emergent patients and the hospital’s “frequent flyers.” Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.
  • Give patients a great tool they can use to determine when their hypertension symptoms are serious enough to call their home health nurse, and when they warrant a call to 911. The stoplight-themed high blood pressure Zone Flyer gives patients a clear road map of when they are all clear (green), should exercise caution (yellow), or having a medical alert (red). Find the personalized materials at www.tagwebstore.com/zone-flyer.php.
  • Contact a local branch of the VFW and offer to present a heart health class. Find a ready-made class at www.tagwebstore.com/startupkit-products.php.

Finally, April is National Cancer Control Month. More than 1.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year, and about 12.5 million Americans have been diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives. About 500,000 people die from the disease each year.

  • Volunteer to teach a community-based education class on disease management at a local support group meeting. Find a done-for-you class at www.TAGwebstore.com/startupkit-products.php.
  • Contact the local office of the American Cancer Society and offer to organize a bake sale, sidewalk sale or other charity event to benefit the organization. Be sure to have plenty of informative materials available that educate about cancer. Find personalized brochures about home health and breast cancer and cancer at www.tagwebstore.com/brochure.php. Personalized agency flyers about cancer are available at www.tagwebstore.com/health-care-flyers.php.
  • Visit the offices of local oncologists and discuss the ways your cancer services can benefit their patients. Include a cancer treatment-specific Patient Education Guide in your materials to demonstrate your agency’s commitment to comprehensive patient education and improved outcomes. Find them at www.tagwebstore.com/patient-education-guides.php.