National Data for Monitoring and Evaluating Racial and Ethnic Health Inequities: Where Do We Go From Here?

Abstract

The elimination of racial and ethnic health inequities has become a central focus of health education and the national health agenda. The documentation of an increasing gap in life expectancy and other health outcomes suggests the need for more effective strategies to eliminate health inequities, which can be informed by better monitoring and evaluation data. Although the sophistication and volume of health data available have increased dramatically in recent years, this article examines the quality of the current data collected to achieve the goal of eliminating racial and ethnic health inequities. This article explores several key aspects of data to inform addressing inequities including terminology, the role of data, and explanations of the problem. The authors conclude with recommendations for refining data collection to facilitate the elimination of racial and ethnic health inequities and suggest how the Society for Public Health Education can become a more central figure in our national efforts.

Advancing the Science of Qualitative Research to Promote Health Equity

“…Health equity has received greater attention in recent years, but some argue that the emphasis on equity rather than disparities is merely semantic, while others suggest that the shift in language represents progress toward more sustainable, population-level solutions and interventions at community, state, and national levels (Srinivasan & Williams, 2014). In addition, concurrent with the move away from merely reducing disparities to promoting equity has been a move from a deficit model to one capitalizing on community and population strengths and assets (Bediako & Griffith, 2007;Griffith, Moy, Reischl, & Dayton, 2006;Srinivasan & Williams, 2014).…”

Applied Developmental Science, Social Justice, and Socio-Political Well-Being

“…Racism is rooted in an ideology of inferiority that categorizes, ranks, and differentially allocates societal resources to human population groups that manifests itself in racial=ethnic disparities in criminal justice, employment, economic resources, health, and education (Griffith, Moy, Reischl, & Dayton, 2006;Pettigrew, 2004;Williams & Rucker, 2000). Racism in the United States has a long history marked by social and political constructions of group differences governed by the political and social interests of the ruling racial caste (Anderson & Massey, 2001;Miles, 1989;Fisher, 1999;Fisher et al, 1998).…”

Effect of Obesity on the Traditional and Emerging Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in African American Women

“…Even though we did not evaluate the health belief systems or their health seeking behaviors, we ascertained that all the study participants had health insurance coverage. Griffith, Moy, Reischl, and Dayton (2006) described five models that explain disparities in cardiovascular disease outcomes in African American women. Racial-genetic, healthbehavior, socioeconomic, psychosocial stress, and structural-constructivist models were identified as possible explanations for the observed disparities in cardiovascular disease burden and outcome among different racial and ethnic groups.…”

“…Additionally, several studies have also implicated multiple social and cultural factors such as racism, literacy levels, psychosocial stress, access to health care, socio-economic status, and health belief systems in the higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among minorities and the development of cardiovascular disease (Albert, Glynn, Buring, & Ridker, 2006;Griffith, Moy, Reischl, & Dayton, 2006).…”