The importance of transdisciplinary collaborations for understanding and resolving health disparities.
Group disparities in health have been documented for several decades. Despite recent efforts to eliminate them, group differences persist and challenge the ability of scientists to address them using traditional research paradigms. Because the determinants of disparities occur at multiple levels, from the molecular to the societal, and interact with one another in ways not yet fully understood, they represent a challenge to researchers attempting to capture their complexity. After reviewing existing models of disciplinary collaboration, we outline the challenges of a transdisciplinary approach and its ability to afford the holistic view of disparities needed to develop effective interventions.
Gehlert
Sarah
S
Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research, and School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. sgehlert@uchicago.edu
Murray
Ann
A
Sohmer
Dana
D
McClintock
Martha
M
Conzen
Suzanne
S
Olopade
Olufunmilayo
O
D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006126:Group Processes; D006302:Health Services Research; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D007400:Interprofessional Relations