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Dr.
Michele Devlin, Executive Director
Dr. Mark Grey, Associate Director
Iowa,
a small rural state, is currently experiencing some of the
most significant demographic changes in the United States.
Faced with one of the country’s largest percentages
of aging residents and the out-migration of its young workforce
to other states, many meatpacking and agricultural processing
companies are actively recruiting thousands of refugees and
immigrants from Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia,
and Africa to come to Iowa to settle and work. This “rapid
ethnic diversification” is occurring in a sparsely populated
state where many Iowa counties are already designated as medically
underserved areas, and where distinct populations of Native
Americans and African Americans have already faced considerable
health challenges for decades.
In order to address the obvious and rapidly growing need for
health disparities research, training, and community outreach,
the University of Northern Iowa received a highly competitive
grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish
the Iowa Center on Health Disparities. The Iowa Center provides statewide
academic leadership in addressing and reducing health disparities
among minority, immigrant, and medically underserved populations
in Iowa. The Iowa Center works with other
innovative and highly successful programs already operating
at the University of Northern Iowa, including the Iowa Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration, and Cultural Connections. Together, these agencies already have
extensive ties with many minority and rural populations in
the state, and have an outstanding record of conducting innovative
research.
The Iowa Center provides a number of services including: applied
research community education and outreach programs with diverse
and underserved populations; and trainings and workshops on health
disparities and culturally competent health care for educators
and providers. The Iowa
Center has a decidedly applied focus, with many of its activities
being conducted directly in the field where clients and agencies
can best access the services.
The Iowa Center on Health Disparities serves as a national model to other rural
states challenged with addressing health disparities.
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