Pennsylvanians, as a whole, are healthier than ever before, said Robert S. Zimmerman Jr., secretary of the state Department of Health.

But, with every silver lining, there's a black cloud.

"Not all Pennsylvanians share that good fortune," he said.

Minority communities throughout the state have significantly higher instances of health problems than whites.

A health department document released Thursday, "Special Report on the Health Status of Minorities in Pennsylvania," said the black population -- the largest ethnic minority in Mercer County -- has a much higher rate of total deaths and deaths from lung cancer and female breast cancer than whites.

Blacks also have higher instances of cardiovascular disease, syphilis, AIDS and tuberculosis.

The infant death rate is higher for blacks, and babies have a lower birth weight.

With Thursday's release of the report, the health department also announced the first batch of grants for community-based agencies in a new program aimed at improving minority health.

Minority Health Advocacy Committee of Sharon Regional Health System is one of the first six recipients of the three-year, $150,000 grants.

Local officials were not surprised to receive the grant but did not expect the reach the grant would have.

"We didn't know it was for three years," said Minority Health Coordinator Olive Brown, adding that she believed the grant would be for one year.

While Minority Health will begin programs under the grant June 30, the extra time and money will allow it to expand on its initial plans and give it the ability to be flexible, said Michaelene Gula, who oversees Minority Health for the hospital.

Initially, Minority Health plans a program on heart health at four Farrell churches that primarily serve the black community, the main target group for grant-funded programs.

"Heart disease is very prominent in the minority community," Ms. Brown said.

The program begins at Second Baptist Church and moves to Valley Baptist Church in August, Greater Morris Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in November and Greater Mount Zion Church of God in Christ in February.

Dr. Kevin Hicks will be medical adviser for the program, but it also will include a dietitian, a pharmacist, a behavior counselor, a respiratory therapist and other medical professionals.

The eight-week program will include an initial health screening of participants and sessions on heart disease and related conditions -- such as diabetes, high blood pressure and hypertension -- cooking, exercise, stress-reduction, diet and quitting smoking.

Because the sessions will be held in churches, spirituality will be worked in.

Ms. Gula said the churches will be asked to form committees to help plan the program in matters such as the time of sessions, attracting parishioners to participate, and tailoring it to meet cultural differences.

"Each church is going to have its own differences on how it's to be implemented," she said.

Cultural differences between blacks and whites spurred creation of Minority Health in about 1994, Ms. Gula said.

A group of ministers' wives asked for a health program, and the first one offered was on breast cancer at Cedar Avenue Church of God, Sharon.

The information was not different from what the hospital had offered in other public programs, but the hospital found that it had to take it to groups within the community.

"Sometimes there is a feeling that 'This program isn't really for me,' from a cultural standpoint," Ms. Gula said.

Blacks tend to wait to go to a doctor for a health problem long past the point when many whites would go, she added.

"When they come to the physician, they tend to be sicker," Ms. Gula said.

Minority Health has found the built-in support network of a church conducive to its goal of changing lifestyles to improve health, she said.

"Group support with any kind of lifestyle change is critical," Ms. Gula said.

Ms. Gula said Minority Health's program could be a blueprint for future efforts.

"We may be able to create something here in the Shenango Valley that can be modeled elsewhere in the state," she said.

On the Net: www.state.pa.us Use keyword "Minority Health."

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at

jpinchot@sharon-herald.com