AUSTIN, Texas – On March 26 and 27, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health hosted a strategic planning meeting for the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities. The goal of the workshop was to supplement the Roundtable’s semi-annual workshops.
“The regular workshops are very focused on specific issues of equity and disparity,” said Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation and a member of the Roundtable since 2013. “This was an opportunity to step back and think more broadly about the goals and direction of the Roundtable itself.”
The Roundtable was launched by the IOM in 2008 to enable dialogue and discussion of issues related to racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, the development of programs and strategies to reduce such disparities, and the emergence of new leadership in this field.
The next workshop is being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 6, 2014. The one-day public workshop, “Advancing Health Equity for Native American Youth,” will explore the challenges and opportunities facing Native American youth today and how these challenges and opportunities affect health outcomes.
The Hogg Foundation advances recovery and wellness in Texas by funding mental health services, policy analysis, research and public education. The foundation was created in 1940 by the children of former Texas Gov. James S. Hogg and is part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin.