Health and Health Care Disparities Data

• The SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is an annual survey and report that serves as the primary source of information on the use of illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco in the civilian, non-institutionalized population of the United States, ages 12 years old or older.
• The SAMHSA Behavioral Health Barometer, Volume 5 is a national report that presents data from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services. Some measures include data presented by race/ethnicity and other demographic variables. State reports provide a snapshot of substance use and mental health in the United States.
• The SAMHSA Chartbook: Racial/Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Services Among Adults uses data from 2008 to 2012 to present nationally representative estimates of mental health service use among adults within different racial groups.
• The National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ]) assesses the performance of the U.S. healthcare system in six priority areas—patient safety, person-centered care, care coordination, effective treatment, healthy living, and care affordability. This annual report is based on more than 250 measures of quality and disparities covering a broad array of healthcare services and settings.
• The Health Disparities & Inequalities Report (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]) is a series of periodic, consolidated assessments that highlight health disparities by sex, race, and ethnicity as well as income, education, disability status, and other social characteristics in the United States.
• The Health Equity Report (Health Services and Resources Administration [HRSA]) (PDF | 2.8 MB) presents a comprehensive analysis of the HRSA’s program efforts in reducing health disparities and promoting health equity for various populations at the national, state, and local levels.
• The Compendium of Federal Datasets Addressing Health Disparities (PDF | 4 MB) is a free resource of publicly available data relevant to research and programs aiming to reduce health disparities by exploring the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the social determinants of health. The Compendium, an initiative of the Interdepartmental Health Equity Collaborative (IHEC), includes data and data-related resources from various federal agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Health Policy

• The Implementation Guidance On Data Collection Standards For Race, Ethnicity, Sex, Primary Language, And Disability Status (U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services [HHS]) is guidance on implementation of the published final standards for data collection on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, and disability status for all national population health surveys, as required by Section 4302 of the Affordable Care Act.

Outreach and Enrollment of Diverse Populations

• A Roadmap to Behavioral Health: A Guide to Using Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] and SAMHSA) (PDF | 833 KB) is a companion guide to the CMS Roadmap to Better Care and a Healthier You. This joint SAMHSA and CMS guide provides instruction on how to use mental health and substance use disorder services and is available in English and Spanish.

Recordings of webinars on outreach and enrollment of diverse populations:

• Video: Financial Costs and Considerations of Health Coverage (one hour, 5 minutes)
• Video: Health Insurance: How Do I Get It, Pay for It and Use It? (31 minutes)
  • Slide deck with speaker notes (PDF | 9 MB)
  • Video: Chinese (Mandarin) (26 minutes)
  • Video: French Creole (22 minutes)
  • Video: Korean (23 minutes)
  • Video: Spanish (26 minutes)
  • Video: Vietnamese (39 minutes)
• Video: What Immigrants and Refugees Need to Know about Health Coverage (23 minutes)
  • Slide deck (PDF | 7 MB)
  • Slide deck with speaker notes (PDF | 6 MB)
  • Video: Chinese (Mandarin) (19 minutes)
  • Video: French Creole (19 minutes)
  • Video: Korean (19 minutes)
  • Video: Spanish (22 minutes)
  • Video: Vietnamese (32 minutes)

Infographics on outreach and enrollment of diverse populations:

• I Am Covered. Are You?
• Medicaid: Do You Qualify?
• Medicaid: The Basics
• Outreach and Enrollment of Diverse Communities: Infographics Flickr album

Cultural and Linguistic Competency and Health Literacy

• The SAMHSA TIP 59: Improving Cultural Competence is a guide that helps professional care providers and administrators understand the role of culture in the delivery of mental health and substance use services. It describes cultural competence and discusses racial, ethnic, and cultural considerations.
• Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals (HHS Office of Minority Health [HHS OMH]) is a free, e-learning program to help behavioral health professionals increase their cultural and linguistic competency offered by the HHS OMH and was collaboratively developed with SAMHSA and other federal and external partners.
• The Culture, Language, and Health Literacy webpage (HRSA) provides information from HRSA about culturally and linguistically appropriate health communication tools.
• Providers and health care organizations are encouraged to use the National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (HHS OMH) (PDF | 77 KB). These standards are for health care organizations to ensure that services are more culturally and linguistically accessible for diverse populations.

In-Language Resources

• SAMHSA’s Talking with Children: Tips for Caregivers, Parents, and Teachers, During Infectious Disease Outbreak (also available in Hmong, Somali, and Spanish) is a tip sheet to help parents, caregivers, and teachers learn some common reactions, respond in a helpful way, and know when to seek support.
• SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine, and Isolation during an Infectious Disease Outbreak (also available in Hmong, Somali, and Spanish) is a fact sheet that explains social distancing, quarantine, and isolation in the event of an infectious disease outbreak. It discusses feelings and thoughts that may arise during this time and suggests ways to cope and support oneself during such an experience.
• Give an Hour’s Campaign to Change Direction The Five Signs of Emotional Suffering Translated Tools are posters that describe the five signs of emotional suffering in multiple languages. In collaboration with SAMHSA’s Office of Behavioral Health Equity, and community members, Give an Hour’s Campaign to Change Direction’s the five signs of emotional suffering were translated into Nepali/Bhutanese and Arabic.
• SAMHSA’s Helping Yourself Heal: A Recovering Man’s Guide to Coping With the Effects of Childhood Abuse (also available in Chinese and Spanish) is a brochure that helps men who are entering treatment understand some of the feelings that can surface about the abuse they experienced as a child. The guide defines childhood abuse, describes the symptoms of abuse, and suggests ways to handle childhood abuse issues while in treatment.
• SAMHSA’s Helping Yourself Heal: A Recovering Women’s Guide to Coping with Childhood Abuse Issues (also available in Cambodian/Khmer, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish is a brochure that helps women who are entering treatment understand some of the feelings that can surface about the abuse they experienced as a child. The guide defines childhood abuse, describes the symptoms of abuse, and suggests ways to handle childhood abuse issues while in treatment.
• SAMHSA’s Facts about Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Addiction (also available in Cambodian/Khmer, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, and Spanish) is a booklet that gives patients information on buprenorphine and medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction. Also, it describes addiction and withdrawal, how buprenorphine works, its proper use, its side effects, and how it fits with counseling in the recovery process.
• SAMHSA’s Drugs, Alcohol and HIV/AIDS: A Consumer Guide (also available in Cambodian/Khmer, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian) is a two-page color brochure that explains the increased risk of HIV transmission among people who misuse substances and stresses the importance of seeking treatment for both substance use and HIV/AIDS.
• SAMHSA’s Good Mental Health is Ageless (also available in Cambodian/Khmer and Spanish) is a brochure that provides information for older adults about the symptoms of depression or dementia, basic facts regarding mental health, and suggestions on how to talk to physicians and how to contact organizations that provide additional information.

Healthy People

Healthy People (HHS), led by the HHS, provides a comprehensive set of 10-year, national goals and objectives for improving the health of all Americans, with 2 of the 12 leading health topics being mental health and substance use.