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Health Disparities

Population-specific differences in access to quality health care, whether caused by gender, race, geography, environment, or other factors, can affect individual and community health. RAND research aims to understand the causes of—and thereby reduce disparities in—health outcomes, access, and care at the individual, community, and international levels.

Journal Article

Disparities in Substance Use Behaviors and Disorders Among Adult Sexual Minorities by Age, Gender, and Sexual Identity

Disparities in substance use and disorders were most pronounced in young adulthood for gay/lesbian individuals and mid-adulthood for bisexual men; bisexual women uniquely experienced disparities across all ages. Minority stress experiences may vary with respect to gender, age/cohort, and sexual identity, resulting in differential risk for substance use.

Dec 27, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Speaking Up and Walking Out: Are Vulnerable Patients Less Likely to Disagree With or Change Doctors?

Older, less educated, and lower-income Medicare beneficiaries are less likely to disagree with or change doctors; to help prevent disparities, doctors and advocates should encourage vulnerable populations to express their concerns and perspectives.

Aug 24, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Mapping the Gaps: Gender Differences in Preventive Cardiovascular Care Among Managed Care Members in Four Metropolitan Areas

Using geospatial technology to generate maps for quality of care metrics and making the information accessible to key stakeholders provides the opportunity to better address disparities in CVD management for women.

Aug 24, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Multilevel and Community-Level Interventions with Native Americans: Challenges and Opportunities

To address health disparities among Native American communities, researchers need to collaborate with community leaders to develop, adapt, and test culturally relevant and sustainable measures and interventions.

Jun 28, 2018
Journal Article

Use of Medication Therapy to Treat Opioid Abuse Among Medicaid Recipients Increased After Approval of New Drug

The number of Medicaid recipients receiving medication to treat opioid abuse increased sharply in the years after approval of buprenorphine, but the increase was smaller in poorer counties and areas with larger populations of black and Hispanic residents.

Jun 27, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Do Sleep and Psychological Distress Mediate the Association Between Neighborhood Factors and Pain?

Understanding how sleep problems, psychological distress, and neighborhood characteristics contribute to pain can help shape interventions to reduce pain-related disparities.

Jun 27, 2018
News Release

News Release

Use of Medication Therapy to Treat Opioid Abuse Among Medicaid Recipients Increased After Approval of New Drug

The number of Medicaid recipients receiving medication to treat opioid abuse increased sharply in the years after approval of buprenorphine, but the increase was smaller in poorer counties and areas with larger populations of black and Hispanic residents.

Jun 25, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Psychosocial Health Disparities Among Black Bisexual Men in the U.S.: Effects of Sexuality Nondisclosure and Gay Community Support

Compared with Black gay men, Black bisexual men experience significant psychosocial health disparities; interventions to decrease biphobia could improve sexual minority community support for these men.

Jun 1, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Trends in the Prevalence and Disparity in Cognitive Limitations of Americans 55-69 Years Old

Among Americans aged 55-69, rates of cognitive limitation are many times higher for groups with lower socioeconomic status (SES) than those with higher SES, and recent trends show little indication that gaps are narrowing.

May 3, 2018
Report

Survey of Californians' Mental Health Finds Disparities

Tracking mental health indicators tells decisionmakers about changing population needs and how well policies and services designed to prevent and treat mental health conditions are working. According to data from 2011 to 2013, California could benefit from focusing on improving outcomes for women, Latino and black residents, and young adults.

May 1, 2018
Journal Article

The Association Between Discrimination and PTSD in African Americans: Exploring the Role of Gender

Discrimination may contribute to the disparate rates of PTSD experienced by African Americans in two lower-income Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

Apr 12, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Racial Residential Segregation, Socioeconomic Disparities, and the White-Black Survival Gap

Black-white disparities in survival remain wide despite public health efforts to improve life expectancy and initiatives to reduce health disparities.

Mar 28, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Moving Beyond Individual Choice in Policies to Reduce Health Inequalities: The Integration of Dynamic with Individual Explanations

We propose a list of questions that researchers and policy-makers can use when writing or critiquing policy in order to bring broader perspective to the forefront of their analysis of the problem.

Mar 20, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

The Great American Recession and Forgone Healthcare: Do Widened Disparities Between African-Americans and Whites Remain?

Since the end of the Great Recession, disparities in the likelihood of forgone care have increased from pre-recession levels between African-Americans and whites; this may be a result of issues related to access, cost, and quality.

Feb 13, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Cluster Analysis of Acute Care Use Yields Insights for Tailored Pediatric Asthma Interventions

Care patterns for pediatric asthma can help identify differences between types of patients - and possible ways to reduce avoidable hospitalizations.

Jan 31, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Ethnic Differences in Cigarette Use Trajectories and Health, Psychosocial, and Academic Outcomes

Cigarette smoking during adolescence appears to be more strongly associated withimpaired functioning across multiple domains for racial/ethnic minority youth in late adolescence compared with their white peers.

Jan 11, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Associations Between Parental SES and Children's Health-Related Quality of Life: The Role of Objective and Subjective Social Status

For children in 5th grade, objective measures of parents' social status were more strongly associated with health-related quality of life than subjective measures.

Dec 15, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Addressing Geographic Confounding Through Spatial Propensity Scores: A Study of Racial Disparities in Diabetes

A spatial "doubly robust" estimator can minimize geographically related risk difference among racial/ethnic groups in health disparities studies.

Dec 14, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Coordinated Care Intervention to Improve Risk Factor Control After Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack in the Safety Net: Secondary Stroke Prevention by Uniting Community and Chronic Care Model Teams Early to End Disparities (SUCCEED)

A multi-disciplinary intervention using a Chronic Care Model framework to prevent a secondary stroke among underserved populations will be tested in a randomized controlled trial.

Dec 12, 2017
Journal Article

Journal Article

Barriers to Gender Transition-Related Healthcare: Identifying Underserved Transgender Adults in Massachusetts

Age, income, education, insurance coverage, and healthcare discrimination were key factors associated with being unable to access transition-related care among transgender adults in Massachusetts.

Nov 30, 2017

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