Translating research evidence to reduce health disparities has emerged as a global priority. The 2008 World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health recently urged “closing the health gap in a generation”1. Achieving this goal requires a social determinants approach to create public health systems that translate efficacy (documented in research settings) to effectiveness (in the broader community). In this article, we review the scope, definitions, and framing of health disparities, and explore programs at the local, national, and global levels to address disparities in specific areas of health. Such efforts translate research evidence into real-world settings to reduce health disparities, and use collaborative social action to initiate broad-scale, sustainable change.

Preparedness exercise program has two aims: (1) educating the public health workforce on key public health system emergency preparedness issues, and (2) identifying specific systems-level challenges in the public health response to large-scale events. Rigorous evaluation of 38 public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) exercises employing realistic scenarios and reliable and accurate outcome measures has demonstrated the usefulness of PHEP exercises in clarifying public health workers' roles and responsibilities, facilitating knowledge transfer among these individuals and organizations, and identifying specific public health systems-level challenges.

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ABSTRACTObjectives: The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of community-based units created to promote the local identification, recruitment, training, and activation of volunteers to assist local health departments in public health activities. This study aimed to develop a toolkit for MRC coordinators to assess and monitor volunteer units' performance and identify barriers limiting volunteerism.Methods: In 2008 and 2009, MRC volunteers asked to participate in influenza clinics were surveyed in 7 different locations throughout the United States. Two survey instruments were used to assess the performance of the volunteers who were able to participate, the specific barriers that prevented some volunteers from participating, and the overall attitudes of those who participated and those who did not. Validity and reliability of the instruments were assessed through the use of factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha.Results: Two survey instruments were developed: the Volunteer Self-Assessment Questionnaire and the Barriers to Volunteering Questionnaire. Data were collected from a total of 1059 subjects, 758 participated in the influenza clinics and 301 were unable to attend. Data from the 2 instruments were determined to be suitable for factor analysis. Factor solutions and inter-item correlations supported the hypothesized domain structure for both survey questionnaires. Results on volunteers' performance were consistent with observations of both local health departments' staff and external observers.Conclusions: The survey instruments developed for this study appear to be valid and reliable means to assess the performance and attitudes of MRC volunteers and barriers to their participation. This study found these instruments to have face and content validity and practicality. MRC coordinators can use these questionnaires to monitor their ability to engage volunteers in public health activities.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2010;4:213-219)