Local Partnerships

In 2007, the Ohio Commission in Minority Health (OCMH) moved to create an infrastructure and presence at the local level through the establishment of the Local Offices of Minority Health within urban areas in Ohio. This initiative became the first of its kind by a state agency in the nation. In an effort to develop a model for the nation, the OCMH spearheaded the creation of national performance standards and/or core competencies for Local Offices of Minority Health in collaboration with NASOMH.

These offices are located in Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown.

The Ohio Local Offices of Minority Health, a grant program extension of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health are dedicated to eliminating health disparities in minority communities through monitoring and reporting the health status of minority populations, informing, educating and empowering people, mobilizing community partnerships and actions and developing policies and plans to support health efforts.

 The four (4) competencies of the local offices of minority health are as follows:

1. Monitor Health Status
2. Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues.
3. Mobilize community partnerships and action to identify and solve health problems
4. Develop Policies that support individual and community health efforts.

Asian American and Pacific Islander

The National Stakeholder Strategy development process was initiated and sponsored by the Federal Office of Minority Health and consisted of a series of activities that engaged the wisdom of the multitude of individuals on the ground; in communities; in local, state and tribal organizations; in government agencies; and in places of education, business, and healthcare delivery— in short, the experts in efforts to reduce health disparities throughout the country. Using a “bottom up” approach—thereby vesting those at the front line of fighting health disparities with the responsibility of identifying and helping to shape core actions for a coordinated national response to ending health disparities—the development process included the following:

• A series of “Regional Conversations” with stakeholders in the ten HHS health regions in order to define, refine, and collaborate on a plan to eliminate health disparities through cooperative and strategic actions.

• The Ohio Commission on Minority Health sponsored “19” local conversations.  These conversations were used to define, refine, and collaborate on a plan to eliminate health disparities through cooperative and strategic actions.  In Ohio these plans were initiated within the identified communities and developed from 2008 and released on March 29, 2012 in conjunction with the 25^th Anniversary Celebration of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health.
• These local conversation reports are now available on our website  www.mih.ohio.gov  we encourage you to review the following reports:

The Local Conversations on Minority Health brought together more than 1254 individuals.  Discussion was held to prioritize local health disparity needs and to begin the development a plan to address those needs.  The individuals who attended represented a wide range of professionals and ethnic communities.  There was representation from government agencies, faith-based and grassroots organizations, media, elected officials, hospitals and other health organizations, social service agencies, business, education, public transportation, health consumers, cultural organizations, and ethnic health coalitions. Participants from all ethnic groups attended and health needs identified were along a continuum from birth to death.