title: Interventions that Reach into Communities--Promising Directions for Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Healthcare.
abstract: Racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare are widespread in the United States and are prevalent across healthcare organizations, including the "equal access" Veterans' Affairs (VA) integrated healthcare system. Despite substantial attention to these disparities over the last decade, there has been limited progress in reducing them. Based on a review of evidence commissioned by the VA to guide its efforts to address racial and ethnic disparities, the conceptual framework describes the root causes of disparities in healthcare quality and outcomes, demonstrating why improvements in the quality of medical care have had limited influence over healthcare disparities that depend largely on social determinants of health. The recommended interventions-including care coordination, culturally-tailored health education, and community health workers-extend the reach of health systems beyond clinics and hospitals and into the communities and social and cultural contexts in which patients live, and in which most health promotion activities occur. To make inroads into addressing disparities, healthcare systems will need to move beyond conceptualizing care delivery as constrained to the clinical encounter and instead, incorporate an understanding of the social determinants of health.
authors.affiliation: Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center ; Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University.
authors.forename: Ana R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Quiñones
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University ; Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, San Diego State University.
authors.forename: Gregory A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Talavera
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University ; Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, San Diego State University.
authors.forename: Sheila F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Castañeda
authors.affiliation: Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center ; Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University.
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saha
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D064890:Social Determinants of Health / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Disparities; Interventions; Race/ethnicity; Veterans