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Closing Gaps In Minority Men’s Health – One Man At A Time

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Innovations in Urology | Winter 2025

Disparities in healthcare access and quality disproportionately affect people of color across many measures of healthcare, posing an ongoing challenge for the medical community. 

Randy Vince, MDRandy Vince, MD

According to a 2023 article published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, “Across clinical pathology interests and in almost every area studied, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities experience worse patient care and health outcomes. Contrary to historical medical teachings, there is no biological evidence for the concept of race as a genomic human subspecies to explain health disparities. Rather, it is the social interpretation of people in a race-conscious society that disparately impacts health.” 

The Minority Health Program at University Hospitals Cutler Center for Men is tackling these disparities close to home, bringing health education and preventive care to men in the community. The no-cost membership program for men 18 and older is redefining well-being for men through personalized touchpoints for comprehensive support.

The program provides access to men’s health guides who specialize in helping navigate UH experts and services, providing the tools and resources to keep men actively engaged in their health care.

“We’ve found that about 50 percent of adult men in Northeast Ohio do not have a primary care provider,” says Randy Vince, MD, Director of Minority Men’s Health at UH Cutler Center for Men, University Hospitals. “And of the top 15 causes of death, men die at an earlier age than women in 14 out of 15 of them. Men’s life expectancy is also much lower than women’s. These statistics are even worse for black men.”

Meeting Men Where They Are

Dr. Vince says that UH is trying to close health disparity gaps among men by putting boots on the ground at a grassroots level. 

“We have three pillars on which we’ve built our Minority Health Program,” he says. “We’re building and sustaining relationships with men and organizations in the community, increasing health literacy and removing barriers to care.”

However, offering health information alone is not enough to entice men to give up their free time to access it, so UH Cutler Center for Men has created events that are both fun to attend and include a component of health education. Patient navigators are available at these events to help schedule appointments, identify appropriate physicians and coordinate scans and lab testing. Everything ties back to the three pillars of forming relationships, creating health literacy and eliminating barriers to access care.

On the Ground

Some events are curated by Cutler Center for Men, while others are sponsored by, or conducted in partnership with, other organizations. Events include:

  • Matters of the Heart. Valentine’s Day is in February, which is also Heart Health Month, so UH Cutler Center for Men created an event to help men learn about relationships. expert. The expert provided information about how to create intimate, romantic A relationships expert helped men navigate the challenge of creating and maintaining healthy relationships, while providers emphasized the importance of heart health, including appropriate screenings and healthy lifestyle modifications.
  • Football watch parties. UH Cutler Center for Men hosts football watch parties, with a large-screen TV, snacks and indoor football competitions for kids and men, all while emphasizing the importance of health screenings and preventive measures at halftime. 
  • School dropoffs. Reaching dads as they drop off their children at school provides another way to meet men where they are in the community. “We engage with men to talk about screenings, particularly for prostate cancer,” Dr. Vince says. “Men of color tend to develop prostate cancer earlier, have more aggressive disease and die at higher rates than white men. We can screen men for prostate cancer at that time, making it very convenient.”

Looking Ahead

“We need to rethink how we offer health education in the community and how healthcare professionals can develop relationships with community members,” Dr. Vince says. “There are a lot of disparities and inequities, and, as physicians, we have an obligation to help others. We can’t do this if pockets of the population die early or unnecessarily.

“Every adult man should be able to enroll in our Minority Health program and have access to health resources across all stages in their lives. We want to reach every man 18 and older in our communities.”

Dr. Vince asks physicians to encourage male patients to enroll in UH Cutler Center for Men Minority Health Program by calling 216-285-4563 or register online to become a member.

For more information about the UH Cutler Center for Men or the Minority Health Program, contact Dr. Vince at 440-869-5847.

Contributing Expert:
Randy Vince, MD
Urological oncologist
Director of Minority Men’s Health
University Hospitals Cutler Center for Men
Assistant Professor of Urology
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

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