Dear Closing the Health Gap Community:

National Men's Health Week is June 9-15, and we're spotlighting not just the physical but also the mental challenges faced by black men. With a higher likelihood of experiencing conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, the struggle extends to mental health, where many suffer in silence and are reluctant to seek help. 'Brother, Let's Talk': Black Men's Health Talk on Saturday, June 28 at 9 AM is an opportunity to change that.

Men, join us at 8 AM for breakfast and a chance to talk openly about health, including mental health. Let's make it a turning point for asking for help and getting real answers.

Let's be the change—together. Blessings for a safe and healthy week ahead.

Renee Mahaffey Harris

President & CEO

Calling All Closing the Health Gap Volunteers!

Be a part of something bigger. Our Volunteer Kickoff and Orientation for Closing the Health Gap is your chance to contribute to the health and wellness of our communities. Every volunteer, past, present, and future, plays a crucial role. Let's be the change together.

Monday, June 23 at 6:00pm

UC Health Business Center

Questions? Call 513-585-9879.

Health orgs still committed to closing health disparities

A sizable 86% of healthcare leaders expect their organizations to continue prioritizing closing health disparities and gaps in outcomes, even as external political and health policy rhetoric shifts, according to a report from Ernst & Young.

The "Optimizing Health Outcomes for All" report was based on survey responses from 500 leaders from the provider, payer, life sciences, government, nonprofit and community organization space.

According to the respondents, efforts to close gaps in healthcare outcomes will persist in most areas, despite rhetorical headwinds.

How Duke University Is Fighting Hypertension Through Community Collaboration

June 9 – June 13, 2025, is Community Health Improvement (CHI) Week — a week that looks at the important work hospitals and health systems are doing to support the overall health of their patients and communities. In this conversation, Duke University's Anna Tharakan, lead project manager on Closing the Gap on Hypertension Disparities, and Bradi Granger, Ph.D., research professor at Duke University School of Nursing and director of the Duke Heart Center Nursing Research Program, discuss how Duke’s team is reducing hypertension disparities by integrating community health workers, student ambassadors and local clinics.

‘No Community Is Healthy Until All of Its Constituents Are Healthy’

On the first day of his second term, President Trump signed an executive order that directed the federal government to only recognize two sexes, male and female. This move was just the start of an aggressive series of federal directives, policies, and rhetoric that take greater lengths than the first Trump administration to limit the rights of the LGBTQ+ community and erase the existence of transgender people in public life.

The January 20 executive orders also ended the use of the gender-neutral “X” marker on passports, eliminated gender-affirming care for people under 18, as well as incarcerated transgender individuals, and restricted federal funding for programs that support what the administration calls “gender ideology,” or the widely accepted idea among the medical community that gender falls along a spectrum.

In subsequent months, the administration has terminated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming and references in federal jobs and contracts, and in schools, banned transgender people from serving in the military and transgender women from competing on female sports teams, and rescinded a host of Biden-era policies that supported DEI initiatives. More than $125 million in grants that supported LGBTQ+ research have been cancelled, including projects that focused on prevention of and treatments for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, cancers, youth suicide, and other health issues that disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ populations.