Reducing Health Disparities in Underserved Populations
Health and healthcare disparities are not new. Often viewed through a race and ethnicity lens, disparities also occur across a wide range of population dimensions, such as gender, sexual orientation, age, disability status, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. Underserved populations have historically experienced higher rates of chronic illness, premature death, and other measures of well-being. Decreased resources and demand for medical care are also notable, ranging from emergency treatment of acute conditions, to routine check-ups, to recommended screenings and treatments.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have brought these pervasive health and healthcare disparities to the forefront among underserved populations who have been disproportionately impacted, including inequities in healthcare availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and outcomes.
News coverage has heightened the consciousness of the general public, making it more important than ever to ensure that research and case studies, along with other authoritative sources, inform programs, policy, and practices to ensure transformational change and ultimately the highest level of health for all people.
Population Health Management invites you to submit a manuscript to our upcoming special issue on Reducing Health Disparities in Underserved Populations.
Potential topics of interest include:
- The intersection of social determinants of health that contribute to health disparities
- The distrust of the medical community by underserved communities
- Means and resources to directly inform, educate and offer service to underserved populations
- Interprofessional collaboration (or care coordination) as a foundation for healthcare providers to support patient needs and reduce health disparities
- Potential impact of physician workforce disparities and their effect on patient care, including women, racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ+), and those with disabilities
- Contribution of physician burnout to racial bias among patients
- Community-driven interventions that hold the greatest promise for promoting health equity
- Increasing the diversity of health professionals
- Need for standardized, fully integrated racial disparity education in medical school curricula
- Continuing medical education for health care professionals who may not be familiar with recent developments in strategies to reduce disparities
- Impact of health disparities on excess medical spending and lost productivity spending
- Gaps in diversity pf participants in clinical trials
- A research and policy agenda to address the widening gap in health equity shaped by COVID-19 and its aftermath
- Violence and hate crimes as contributing factors to health disparities
- Optimizing healthcare insurance and Medicare and Medicaid coverage
For more information, please see our instructions for authors.
Submit your manuscript online to our web-based manuscript submission and peer-review system:
Manuscript submission deadline: December 1, 2021.