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The Use of Family Health Histories to Address Health Disparities in an African American Community

MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas

Vinaya S. Murthy, MS, MPH

Kaiser Permanente in Fresno, California

Beth Dudley, MS

Genzyme Genetics at Atlanta Perinatal Consultants in Atlanta, Georgia

Robin E. Grubs, PhD, CGC

Genetic Counseling Program in the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Elizabeth Gettig, MS, CGC

Genetic Counseling Program in the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Angela Ford, PhD

Center for Minority Health at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Stephen B. Thomas, PhD

Center for Minority Health at the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

African Americans continue to suffer from health disparities. The Center for Minority Health (CMH) within the University of Pittsburgh has the mission to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. CMH has designed and implemented the Family Health History (FHH) Initiative. The FHH Initiative places genetic-counseling graduate students in the African American community to provide risk assessments and emphasize the importance of family history as it pertains to disease prevention. The FHH Initiative also allows participants to enroll into the Minority Research Recruitment Database (MRRD). This enables CMH to alert individuals to available research participation opportunities. In the first year of this program, 225 African Americans completed their family health histories. More than 60% of individuals enrolled in the MRRD. The authors report their initial successes and challenges of an initiative that incorporates awareness of family history information, proper screening guidelines, behavior-modification recommendations, and support for participation in clinical research.

Key Words: genetic counseling • African American • Black • minority • minority health • health disparities • minority recruitment • community outreach • genetics • clinical trials • family history • public health

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