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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.

Blog

'Internet of Bodies,' COVID-19 as a Preexisting Condition, Preventive Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the potential risks and benefits of the 'Internet of Bodies,' what might happen if the ACA is struck down and COVID-19 is considered a preexisting condition, a drop in the use of preventive care, and more.

Nov 6, 2020
News Release

Preventive Health Care Dropped Significantly During First Two Months of Pandemic Lockdown; Study Finds Disparities in Switch to Telemedicine

During the first two months of the pandemic lockdown, Americans dramatically reduced their use of preventive and elective health care, while increasing use of telemedicine—but the switch was not enough to offset reductions in in-person care.

Nov 5, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Inpatient Patient Safety Events in Vulnerable Populations: A Retrospective Cohort Study

In this retrospective study we found that a commonly used method for monitoring patient safety problems, namely voluntary incident reporting, may underdetect patent safety events in hospitalized vulnerable populations.

Nov 3, 2020
Commentary

How Much Do Americans Value Their Health During the Pandemic?

Do Americans believe that limiting the spread of COVID-19 justifies the social and economic costs of physical-distancing measures? Researchers conducted a survey to better understand how Americans weigh health against other priorities.

Oct 29, 2020
Report

American Health Attitudes During COVID-19

In a survey including people of color and those with low- to moderate-incomes, most prioritized health even when it implies limitations to their liberty and to the economy. But white and non-white respondents differed when weighing the risk of getting COVID-19 with opening the economy or protesting injustice.

Oct 29, 2020
Journal Article

Socioeconomic Status and Well-Being During COVID-19: A Resource-Based Examination

Longitudinal survey data show that depressive symptoms increased, and life satisfaction decreased, from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those with higher education and higher incomes were most adversely impacted.

Oct 28, 2020
Commentary

Choosing a Different Path for a Healthier Future After COVID-19

Today, every American community is sitting at a crossroads, as local governments continue to address the health crisis of COVID-19 while grappling with the financial realities of maintaining operations. While some communities may take a more traditional route of only investing further in health care services, there is an opportunity to take a more holistic approach and address the multitude of factors that have contributed to the devastation of COVID-19.

Oct 2, 2020
Report

Assessing Health and Human Services Needs to Support an Integrated Health in All Policies Plan for Prince George's County, Maryland

This report describes a health and human services needs assessment of Prince George's County, Maryland. Findings from this report can inform Prince George's County's pursuit of a Health in All Policies approach to policymaking.

Sep 1, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Educational Attainment and Perceived Need for Urgent Care

This article presents analyses of perceived need for urgent care among seniors.

Aug 27, 2020
Content

RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy

RAND has launched a new research center dedicated to racial equity. The center supports a portfolio of innovative, high-impact racial equity research and analysis, creates a clearinghouse to help coordinate related efforts, and collaborates with organizations dedicated to advancing racial equity.

Aug 25, 2020
News Release

Project Will Create First Digital Health Dataset That Includes Traditionally Underrepresented Groups

An initiative to create the first large-scale digital health dataset of Americans that is fully representative across all socio-demographic groups—including ethnic and economic groups usually underrepresented—has been launched by the University of Southern California Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, the RAND Corporation and Evidation Health.

Jul 28, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Substance Use Disparities at the Intersection of Sexual Identity and Race/Ethnicity: Results from the 2015–2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

Disparities were most pronounced among racial/ethnic minority LGB women, which may reflect their unique experiences of discrimination at the intersection of multiple minority identities. However, racial/ethnic minority gay and bisexual men were not at elevated risk relative to their White counterparts.

Jul 17, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Development of a Long-Term Evaluation Framework for the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care

RAND was awarded a contract by HHS OMH to develop the long-term evaluation framework for the National CLAS Standards. This report presents the details of the development of the framework.

Jun 30, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Evaluation of the National CLAS Standards: Tips and Resources

OMH commissioned the development of a framework and toolkit to guide efforts to evaluate the National CLAS Standards across four settings: ambulatory care, behavioral health, hospitals, and public health.

Jun 30, 2020
Announcement

A Statement by Michael D. Rich

Everyone must do more to eliminate racial inequities. At RAND, we will contribute by continuously strengthening our research and analysis on health, education, justice, security, and well-being. We must examine where these areas intersect, listen more to voices that are too often underrepresented, and integrate the historical and structural contexts in which policies have been developed and applied.

Jun 3, 2020
Commentary

Do We Know How to Treat Alcohol Misuse in Women?

Despite the many clinical trials that have demonstrated the effectiveness and safety of treatments for alcohol use disorder, we still know little about whether men and women respond differently to treatment. Without knowing whether recommended treatments are effective for women, women are vulnerable to the consequences of alcohol misuse.

Apr 29, 2020
Commentary

Women and COVID-19: Studying the Impact of Sex and Gender

Much of current medical evidence is based largely on men. The current COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to examine the potential value of asking questions about sex and gender differences to inform ongoing policy decisions.

Apr 13, 2020
Commentary

Incarceration Rates: A Key Measure of Health in America

There's widespread agreement that incarceration has adverse effects on health and health equity, not just for prisoners but also for families and communities. That's one important reason why incarceration in the United States needs to be reduced.

Apr 3, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Healthcare Utilization Among Migrants to the UK: Cross-Sectional Analysis of Two National Surveys

Researchers explored health service utilization among migrants to the UK, adjusting for age, sex, long-term health conditions and time since moving to the UK. The study found that healthcare use was lower among migrants than the UK-born population.

Apr 1, 2020
Journal Article

Journal Article

Advancing LGBTQ Health Equity Via Human-Centered Design

Human-centered design (HCD; also known as user-centered design) is well-suited to advance the field of substance use prevention interventions for LGBTQ youths by designing interventions that simultaneously target several the complex, multilevel factors that drive health disparities.

Feb 4, 2020

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