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Finding Answers Awards More Than $2 Million to Develop Interventions Aimed at Reducing Gaps in Health Care Among U.S. Racial and Ethnic Groups
12-13-06
11 Grants Given to Organizations with Demonstrated Abilities to Develop and Test Interventions to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care (Click here for Spanish version)
(Chicago) – Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change, a National Program Office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) housed at the University of Chicago, is awarding more than $2 million to 11 organizations that are working to eliminate racial and ethnic health care disparities in their communities.
A total of 178 project proposals were received from health care leaders around the country—including hospitals, community health centers and universities with medical/health care specialties. These proposals presented efforts to evaluate a wide range of interventions, including interventions involving community health workers, electronic health records, health literacy screening and use of culturally tailored DVDs designed to empower patients to become more active in their care. Together, they provide a snapshot of current efforts around the country to reduce racial and ethnic disparities.
Each of the final 11 grant recipients will receive up to $300,000 to evaluate their proposed interventions aimed at reducing disparities in the health outcomes of patients in their communities. Grantees will focus on cardiovascular disease, depression and/or diabetes; diseases where evidence of racial and ethnic disparities in care is strong and the recommended standards of care are clear.
“There is an urgent need to move beyond documenting the existence of health care disparities and start finding solutions that will eliminate them,” said Marshall H. Chin, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, Department of Medicine and the Center for Health and the Social Sciences, as well as the director of the Finding Answers program. “With the joint effort of these grantees and the health care community, we will identify innovative, replicable and sustainable approaches to reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health care.”
Decades of research show that certain racial and ethnic groups in the United States receive lower-quality care. Without better knowledge about practical steps to reduce disparities in care, health care organizations are often unable to address these documented gaps. Research indicates most efforts to date have led to limited improvements in reducing the gaps in care Americans receive.
“We need to find clear solutions that can improve the health of all Americans—regardless of race or ethnicity,” said John R. Lumpkin, M.D., M.P.H., senior vice president and director of the Health Care Group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Through the Finding Answers program, we are working to identify interventions that are most effective so that we can move closer to implementing them in the real world.”
The results of the 11 grants will help Finding Answers and RWJF understand what works—or does not work—to improve health care for minority patients. The information the grantees provide to Finding Answers will include obstacles to and solutions for implementing a tested intervention, startup and maintenance costs for the intervention, and staff training needs. Finding Answers will evaluate the results and related information and then inform health care stakeholders—doctors, hospitals and health plans—about promising interventions that show the ability to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care.
The majority of the 178 proposals included interventions involving health care policy, health care organizations, providers, patients and direct community linkages to the health care system. All were evaluated and selected based on the following factors: strength of the intervention, demographics of the institution, institutional commitment to addressing disparities in health care and improving quality of care overall, data collection capacity, and the scientific quality of the proposed research project.
The 11 grant recipients are:
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Choctaw Nation Health Services Authority, Oklahoma
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Cooper Green Hospital, Alabama
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Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Massachusetts
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Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, Massachusetts
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Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia
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Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, Rhode Island
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Olive View-UCLA Education Research Institute, California
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Univeristy of California-Irvine, California
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University of Southern California, California
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Westside Health Services, Inc., New York
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Yale University School of Medicine, Connecticut
This is the first of three calls for proposals Finding Answers/RWJF will be making. The second call for proposals is expected to be announced in spring 2007.
Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change is a research and tracking program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based at the University of Chicago. The program is the cornerstone of the Foundation’s strategy to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care by 2008. To learn more about Finding Answers and other initiatives dedicated to eliminating disparities in health care, visit www.SolvingDisparities.org.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
Contact:
Paul Quirk, GMMB
(202) 572-2879
Andrea Daitz, RWJF
(609) 627-5937
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