[EQ] Disparities In Health: Expanding The Focus

Health Affairs: March/April 2008 - Volume 27, Number 2

Disparities in Health: Expanding The Focus

From the Editor

 

James C. Robinson [Extract]   Black, Latino Children More Than 12 Times As Likely As White Children To Both Be Poor And Live In Poor Neighborhoods, Say Researchers In Health Affairs Almost 17 percent of black children and 20.5 percent of Latino children in the United States live in ³double jeopardy,² meaning that they live in both poor families and poor neighborhoods, according to research released today in the March/April issue of the journal Health Affairs. In contrast, only 1.4 percent of white children live in double jeopardy. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/2/321 In addition, poor white children are more likely than poor black or Latino children to live in better neighborhoods. A typical poor white child lives in a neighborhood where the poverty rate is 13.6 percent, while a typical poor black child lives in a neighborhood where the poverty level is nearly 30 percent. A typical poor Latino child lives in a neighborhood where the poverty rate is 26 percent. According to researchers Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues, the type of neighborhood one lives in plays a significant role in racial and ethnic health disparities. The study is part of a thematic Health Affairs issue on disparities in health that examines the link between racial and ethnic disparities and health status and health care. http://content.healthaffairs.org/current.shtml Other issue highlights include: Education Affects Life Expectancy. Despite increased attention during the 1980s and 1990s to reducing disparities in life expectancy among the educationally disadvantaged, the educational gap in life expectancy is rising. Between the 1980s and 2000, life expectancy increases occurred nearly exclusively among highly educated groups, according to research from Ellen Meara, an assistant professor of health economics at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/2/350 Policymakers Must View Oral Health As Essential. Oral health is not given the same priority as general health in health care policy, despite research that shows links between oral health and overall health, say researchers Susan Fisher-Owens, an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues. The researchers review disparities in oral health and call for more diversity within the dental workforce, incentives for providers to work in areas where there is a shortage of dentists, programs that address inequalities in dental services, and better public insurance coverage for dental care. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/2/404   From: Ford, Kathleen

Social Determinants

 

PROLOGUE: The Social Determinants Of Health [Extract]

 

Toward A Policy-Relevant Analysis Of Geographic And Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Child Health   Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Theresa L. Osypuk, Nancy McArdle, and David R. Williams [Abstract]

 

Targeting Health Disparities: A Model Linking Upstream Determinants To Downstream Interventions   Sarah Gehlert, Dana Sohmer, Tina Sacks, Charles Mininger, Martha McClintock, and Olufunmilayo Olopade [Abstract]

 

The Gap Gets Bigger: Changes In Mortality And Life Expectancy, By Education, 1981–2000   Ellen R. Meara, Seth Richards, and David M. Cutler [Abstract]

 

Race, Ethnicity, And The Education Gradient In Health   Rachel Tolbert Kimbro, Sharon Bzostek, Noreen Goldman, and Germán Rodríguez [Abstract]

Perspective

 

PERSPECTIVE: Challenges To Using A Business Case For Addressing Health Disparities   Nicole Lurie, Stephen A. Somers, Allen Fremont, January Angeles, Erin K. Murphy, and Allison Hamblin [Abstract]

Definitions & Data

 

PROLOGUE: Health Disparities: Definitions And Data [Extract]

 

When Does A Difference Become A Disparity? Conceptualizing Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Health   Paul L. Hebert, Jane E. Sisk, and Elizabeth A. Howell [Abstract]

 

Collecting Adequate Data On Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Health: The Challenges Continue   Linda T. Bilheimer and Jane E. Sisk [Abstract]

Specific Disparities

 

PROLOGUE: Addressing Specific Disparities [Extract]

 

New Evidence Regarding Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Mental Health: Policy Implications   Thomas G. McGuire and Jeanne Miranda [Abstract]

 

Giving Policy Some Teeth: Routes To Reducing Disparities In Oral Health   Susan A. Fisher-Owens, Judith C. Barker, Sally Adams, Lisa H. Chung, Stuart A. Gansky, Susan Hyde, and Jane A. Weintraub [Abstract]

 

Disparities In Human Resources: Addressing The Lack Of Diversity In The Health Professions   Kevin Grumbach and Rosalia Mendoza [Abstract]

States' Role

 

PROLOGUE: States’ Role In Addressing Disparities [Extract]

 

The Medical Tongue: U.S. Laws And Policies On Language Access   Mara K. Youdelman [Abstract]

Role Of States

 

State Variation In Health Insurance Coverage For U.S. Citizen Children Of Immigrants   Dolores Acevedo-Garcia and Lisa Cacari Stone [Abstract]

 

Moving Beyond Access: Achieving Equity In State Health Care Reform   Brian D. Smedley [Abstract]

Commentary

 

Reducing Racial And Social-Class Inequalities In Health: The Need For A New Approach   S. Leonard Syme [Abstract]

 

 

 

 *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
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[EQ] Challenges To Using A Business Case For Addressing Health Disparities

Challenges To Using A Business Case For Addressing Health Disparities

 

N. Lurie, S. A. Somers, A. Fremont, J. Angeles, E. K. Murphy, and A. Hamblin

Health Affairs, Volume 27, No. 2 March-April 2008

 

Available online at: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/27/2/334

 

“….The authors consider the challenges to quantifying both the business case and the social case for addressing disparities, which is central to achieving equity in the U.S. health care system.

 

They describe the practical and methodological challenges faced by health plans exploring the business and social cases for undertaking disparity-reducing interventions.

 

Despite these challenges, sound business and quality improvement principles can guide health care organizations seeking to reduce disparities. Place-based interventions may help focus resources and engage health care and community partners who can share in the costs of—and gains from—such efforts …”

 

Nicole Lurie) is senior natural scientist and the Paul O’Neill Alcoa Professor at RAND in Arlington, Virginia.
Stephen Somers is president and chief executive officer of the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) in Hamilton, New Jersey.
Allen Fremont is a natural scientist and sociologist at RAND in Santa Monica, California. January Angeles is a program officer at the CHCS.
Erin Murphy is a research assistant at RAND in Arlington. Allison Hamblin is a program officer at the CHCS. RAND and the CHCS are two of the coordinating and managing partners of the National Health Plan Collaborative, whose activities are recounted in this Perspective.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which are coordinating and managing partners of the National Health Plan Collaborative (NHPC).

 

 

  *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ IKM Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is".Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
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    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.  

[EQ] Toward A Policy-Relevant Analysis Of Geographic And Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Child Health

Toward A Policy-Relevant Analysis Of Geographic And Racial/Ethnic Disparities In Child Health

Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Theresa L. Osypuk, Nancy McArdle and David R. Williams

Health Affairs, Volume 27, No. 2 March-April 2008

 Available online at: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/27/2/321

“……Extreme racial/ethnic disparities exist in children’s access to "opportunity neighborhoods." These disparities arise from high levels of residential segregation and have implications for health and well-being in childhood and throughout the life course.

The fact that health disparities are rooted in social factors, such as residential segregation and an unequal geography of opportunity, should not have a paralyzing effect on the public health community. However, we need to move beyond conventional public health and health care approaches to consider policies to improve access to opportunity-rich neighborhoods through enhanced housing mobility, and to increase the opportunities for healthy living in disadvantaged neighborhoods….”.

 

Dolores Acevedo-Garcia is an associate professor in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Theresa Osypuk is an assistant professor of health science at the Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, in Boston.
Nancy McArdle is a research analyst in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health.
David Williams is the Florence S. and Laura S. Norman Professor of Public Health and professor of African and African American studies and of sociology at Harvard University.

Research Enabling Grant from the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity at Harvard University, as well as funding for DiversityData.org from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health and Society Scholars Program for financial support.

 

 

  *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ IKM Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is".Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.
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EQUITY List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.