Two of ECHO Colorado’s partners, the Western Colorado Area Health Education Center (WCAHEC) and the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials (CALPHO) are engaging to improve health equity for all persons in Colorado.
WCAHEC recently joined with seven other Colorado regions in Ft. Morgan, Colo. under the oversight of the Colorado Trust to commit to making an impact by improving health equity for all Coloradans. WCAHEC is a grant recipient for this program, funded by the Colorado Trust with the help of Transformative Alliances, LLC of Denver. The in-depth, 18-month-long program educates participants about the historical development of health inequity in the United States while building a collaborative group of advocacy organizations across the state.
Members of CALPHO participated in an ECHO Colorado learning series designed to provide rural and frontier Colorado Local Public Health Agency Directors with the knowledge and strategies to incorporate health equity into their programs and planning. Sessions covered public health practice and health equity in rural and frontier communities, tools for integrating health equity into LPHA initiatives, advancing health equity through partnerships, and communication skills and strategies for advancing health equity.
The efforts of WCAHEC and CALPHO will help address differences in health outcomes by race, ethnicity, geographic location and income among Colorado’s diverse populations. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, dire health inequities are experienced by communities of color, people with limited English proficiency, LGBTQ communities and others who may have experienced systematic discrimination or exclusion. By and large, these minority groups experience the lowest median household income, the highest infant mortality rates and the highest rates of diabetes in the state.
We are proud of the work WCAHEC and CALPHO are committing to in advancing health equity in Colorado!
