AJMC: Center on Health Equity & Access’ Post

A recent report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) sheds light on the persistent inequities in the US health care system. Despite being a global leader in health care spending, the US has seen minimal progress in advancing health care equity over the past two decades. The report emphasizes that racial and ethnic disparities continue to contribute to some of the poorest health outcomes among high-income countries. "Many of the tools needed to reach these goals are already available and need to be fully utilized," said Dr Jennifer DeVoe, co-chair of the committee and professor at Oregon Health & Science University. "With concerted national effort and adequate resources, the health care system can be transformed to deliver high-quality, equitable care for all." #HealthEquity #HealthCareInequities #NASEM #PublicHealth #HealthCareReform #EquityInHealthCare #HealthCareAccess #SocialDeterminants #ChronicConditions #HealthCarePolicy

Women’s health is public health.

"For far too long, scientific and biomedical research excluded women and undervalued the study of women’s health. The resulting research gaps mean that we know far too little about women’s health across women’s lifespans, and those gaps are even more prominent for women of color, older women, and women with disabilities." - EO on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation (3/18/24) Within this context, President Biden is issuing an executive order "to bolster women's health research, while federal agencies are announcing new steps to close long-standing gender gaps in clinical trials and care." - Axios WH EO fact sheet: https://lnkd.in/eRJm8Fm6 Executive Order: https://lnkd.in/eiVT6f9w Axios: https://lnkd.in/eUC5vjXY

Women’s health has not received the attention it deserves for far too long. This week, during #WomensHistoryMonth, President Biden signed a new $12 billion initiative to be led by First Lady Jill Biden that advances both women’s health research and women’s health data. Under the executive order, all federal clinical trial research—not just NIH research—must represent women. The Women’s Health Initiative will also support important research for improving women’s health and closing health disparities. And it will strengthen research and data standards related to women’s health—from study design to data collection to how data are reported. Recognizing and addressing the unique health needs of women is pivotal to creating a healthcare system that serves everyone equitably. The Women's Expert Panel that contributed to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems has played an important role in the mission to advance women's health and research. The panel highlighted the need to improve the quality and completeness of data collection, as social factors like housing, transportation, and employment play an important role in a woman’s risk for poor health. The Commission’s final report, Charting a Course for an Equity-Centered Data System, provided recommendations that will help to eliminate inequities in public health data by addressing the legacies of structural racism which contribute to the poor health outcomes for women, particularly women of color. With the work of the Commission and other leaders in this space, and this recent executive order, I am optimistic about a future where women's health is prioritized, leading to improved wellbeing for all. Sincerely, Dr. Gail C. Christopher  Executive Director, NCHE https://lnkd.in/eEjBEBJ3

Reciprocity In Global Health: Here Is How We Can Do Better https://lnkd.in/eb-CJvr6

Women make up half the population but, for far too long, have been understudied or even not included in health research. Yesterday, President Biden announced his commitment to changing that through the creation of the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Biden's Executive Order will fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health research in the United States, and accelerate efforts by advancing women’s health research into all areas of the federal government. How great to have a President and First Lady who are working to build a health care system where women aren’t just an after-thought, where we leave our doctors’ offices with more answers than questions, where medicine meets the needs of everyone, and where no woman or girl has to hear that “it’s all in your head,” ever again. #womenshealth #healthequity #womenshealthmatters #potus #flotus #womenshistorymonth

In research, it seems like the work never stops, even during Summer. But sometimes we do finish something 😉 Last week, our review on socioeconomic position and frailty has been published in Ageing Research Reviews. In this review, led by Peter Hanlon and co-authored by several EPI-FRAIL colleagues, we included 383 studies reporting findings from 265 samples/cohorts. No matter what SEP indicator was used (childhood deprivation, education, income, occupation etc.), lower SEP was associated with higher frailty prevalence, frailty incidence and frailty progression. Resourcing of interventions and services to support people living with frailty should be proportionate to needs in the population to avoid widening existing health inequalities. See for more information: https://lnkd.in/dFz6QJrg More information about EPI-FRAIL: www.epi-frail.com Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam Cohort Hub - Amsterdam UMC, University of Glasgow, Karolinska Institutet

➡ Now that the hustle and bustle of the winter holidays ❄ is behind us, it's a good time to catch up with our latest #interview 🗨 📅 With the European Parliament elections just around the corner, and with a number of #health challenges looming, it makes sense to ask how we can get policymakers 👔 to consider all the scientific evidence they need to address them. Of course, there is no magic recipe, but Dimitra Panteli Pantelli and Florian Tille (Ph.D.) Tille from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies give us some keys to success in approaching these actors 👇 #eCAN #EU4Health #HealthUnion #JointAction #policymakers #science #cancer #telemedicine

Virtual Conference: Research Strategies to Optimize Healthcare for People with Multiple Chronic Conditions (MCC) from Populations Experiencing Health Disparities I am honored to give an afternoon plenary talk "Advancing Health Equity Among People at Risk for or Living with Multiple Chronic Conditions: The Role of Learning Health Systems" #healthequity #LHS at the NIMHD Virtual Conference Research Strategies to Optimize Healthcare for People with Multiple Chronic Conditions (MCC) from Populations Experiencing Health Disparities. #MCC #healthdisparities Hosted by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) #NIMHD, this workshop will: Identify feasible methodologies and barriers to conducting and disseminating the range of research on MCC. Discuss data access, equity, and analytical challenges and potential solutions. Explore critical collaborations needed to successfully conduct such research. Please join us on March 18-19, 2024, for Research Strategies to Optimize Health Care for People With Multiple Chronic Conditions (MCC) From Populations Experiencing Health Disparities. For more information and registration, visit:  https://lnkd.in/eXv-xkh4 #AHRQ #personcenteredcare #healthcareimprovement

⚕ Major Win for Women’s Health Research ⚕ Despite advancements, disparities in women’s access to healthcare and their resulting outcomes are alarming: 🔸 ~19 million women in the U.S. are living in areas without sufficient access to maternal health care, leading to rising maternal mortality rates. [March of Dimes: https://lnkd.in/gVh2g2Xp] 🔸 Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women in the U.S., a stark reminder of the racial disparities in healthcare. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://lnkd.in/gs9wH_sE] 🔸 Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women, yet only 38% of participants in related research trials are female, limiting the understanding of its effects on women. [American Heart Association: https://lnkd.in/ghEMnQv8] These are more than just some numbers - they represent the lives of mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends. Improving access to preventive care, increasing representation in medical research, and addressing health disparities must be a national priority. We need to support initiatives that expand women’s access to healthcare, fund more research for female-specific conditions, and close the gap on racial and economic disparities. This is a fight for women’s lives, and the time to act is now. 🏥 #WomensHealth #HealthEquity #HealthcareAccess #MaternalHealth #PreventiveCare #HeForShe #HealthResearch