Center Faculty Collaborate to Author Health Disparities Textbook Chapter

The Science of Health Disparities Research

Four Center Faculty collaborated to write chapter seventeen of The Science of Health Disparities Research textbook “Using Implementation Science to Move From Knowledge of Disparities to Achievement of Equity”. Edited by Irene Dankwa-Mullan, Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, Kevin L. Gardner, Xinzhi Zhang, and Adelaida M. Rosario. The textbook is an indispensable source of up-to-date information on clinical and translational health disparities science. You can order the book using the link at the bottom of this page.

HealthDisparitiesBook.jpg

Abstract

Today’s healthcare system and the people it serves face an urgent need for researchers and healthcare providers to address widespread inequitable care. Despite state and national policy initiatives seeking to improve population health and reduce health disparities, and despite the presence of a burgeoning evidence base of effective clinical and community-based approaches to reduce disparities, interventions have not been widely translated into real-world practices and communities. The observed gaps between evidence and practice, and among different racial, ethnic, and rural/urban populations, is in some part due to failure to implement known evidence effectively, consistently, and appropriately. Dissemination and translation initiatives to promote health equity are critical to efforts to reduce healthcare disparities. This chapter provides an overview of implementation science approaches and frameworks and describes their utility for healthcare equity research, using as an example, Project ReD CHiP (Reducing Disparities and Controlling Hypertension in Primary Care), a pragmatic trial funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. It then offers important lessons and “best practices” in healthcare disparities implementation science. A following section discusses challenges and opportunities of using implementation science in healthcare disparities research, notably in stakeholder engagement; in accounting for contextual differences in implementation settings; and in intervention design and implementation. The chapter closes with a discussion of future research areas. By incorporating implementation science methods and approaches, researchers and healthcare providers may improve the effectiveness of dissemination and translation initiatives, spreading and enhancing sustainment of evidence-based approaches to reduce healthcare disparities. These efforts may ultimately accelerate the realization of equitable healthcare for all.

Authors: Lisa A. Cooper1 , Tanjala S. Purnell1 , Michael Engelgau2 , Kristina Weeks1 , Jill A. Marsteller1 1 Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA 2 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

CHE Team