Diverse Communities Health Initiative
Since 2001, the Diverse Communities Health Initiative (DCHI), formerly the Immigrant Women’s Health Initiative (IWHI), has worked with New York’s women of color, immigrant women and family planning providers to increase access to health care services.
DCHI fights disparities in reproductive health care for diverse communities. Many minority and low-income women in New York are not receiving the basic health care services they need. Women of color are disproportionately affected by higher rates of disease, morbidity and mortality than their white counterparts. Communities of color are less likely to have a regular source of medical care, visit a doctor, or receive preventive care due to complex issues including finances, lack of insurance, immigration status, sexual orientation, and cultural and linguistic barriers.
DCHI’s Current initiatives include:
- Strengthening cultural and linguistic competency among family planning providers by conducting Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) trainings. We use the 14 National CLAS standards as our frame of reference.
- Conducting a statewide study – Understanding and Improving Family Planning Services through Language Assistance — funded by the National Institutes of Health to help us better understand the needs of family planning providers, deepen our knowledge of the barriers health centers encounter with providing language assistance, and develop a model language-access programs for New York’s family planning health centers.
- Advocating for state and national policies that guarantee access to health care services for underserved communities.
- Teaching women of color and low-income women how to advocate for themselves, their families, and their communities.
- Sharpening cultural competence skills for health and human service providers through our cultural competence trainings and presentations.
- Increasing cultural and linguistic access to health care by providing technical assistance and resources as requested by health care providers seeking to implement CLAS.
Send an email to Diverse Communities Health Initiative for more information.
About Dr. Grace Mose, Director of the Diverse Communities Health Initiative
Dr. Grace Mose manages the Diverse Communities Health Initiative of The Education Fund of Family Planning Advocates of New York State and conducts trainings and presentations on cultural and linguistic competence for health and human service providers.
Dr. Mose works with family planning centers to develop and implement organizational assessments related to culturally and linguistically appropriate services. She is an expert on harmful health issues confronting women in Africa and has authored a book on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting titled Thinking the Gusii Way: Insider Perspectives on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)/Cutting and Strategies for Change.
Dr. Mose is a highly sought presenter and trainer. See recent presentations:
- “Cultural Competence: Working with People of African descent” presentation for health and human services providers in New York’s Capital Region
- “From Assessment to Action: Learning to Measure and Promote Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) at Your Agency – training for Albany and Mid-Hudson Valley family planning providers
- “International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Cutting” – Sauti Yetu Center for African Women in New York City
