title: From understanding to action: interventions for surgical disparities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health care disparities are a well-documented phenomenon. Despite the development and implementation of multiple interventions, disparities in surgery have proven persistent. Thought to arise from a combination of patient, provider, and system-level factors, the objective of this study was to identify what is currently known about factors that influence surgical disparities and elucidate possible interventions to address them across four intervention-based themes: (1) condition-specific targeted interventions; (2) increased reliance on quantitative factors; (3) doctor-patient communication; and (4) cultural humility.
  
  
  METHODS
  Articles were abstracted from PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library using controlled keyword vocabulary.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are various forms of interventions to address surgical disparities, spanning knowledge from disparate fields. Promising efforts have emerged towards the successful alleviation of disparities. In order to move the field of surgery from understanding of disparities towards actions to mitigate them, continued development of meaningful quality improvement initiatives are needed.
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan; Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Butool
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hisam
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Cheryl K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Zogg
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Muhammad A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences Medical College, Karachi, Pakistan; Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Ammar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, California.
authors.forename: Hammad
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Shalini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selvarajah
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Maya J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Torain
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Navin R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Changoor
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address: ckzogg@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Adil H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Haider
mesh_terms: D054521:Cultural Competency; D005006:Ethnicity; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D058996:Quality Improvement; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States
keywords: Health care disparities; Intervention; Racial disparities; Review; Surgical disparities