There is broad consensus that reduction in health care disparities is an important and multifaceted challenge. One possible approach, among many others, starts with the attraction of women and men to the field of medicine who have a broad based education and who can demonstrate cultural understanding and sensitivity. In this context, the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) has been revised, ...

With much discussion about health disparities in Minnesota in recent years, there has been growing awareness about the inequities between rich and poor and between majority and minority groups. Attention also needs to be paid to the disparities between women who live in rural areas and those who live in urban parts of the state. Rural women are poorer, older and less likely to have adequate hea...

In men’s health research, an important gap exists in how we explain differences in health among men. Though scholarly contributions to men’s health disparities are growing, there continues to be a lack of discourse around concrete solutions that can be applied to reducing or eliminating differences in health outcomes between groups of men. This is the first special issue dedicated to describing...

Despite an accumulating body of literature addressing racial/ethnic disparities in children's health and health care, there have been few published studies of interventions that have been successful in eliminating these disparities. The objectives of this article, therefore, are to (1) describe 3 interventions that have been successful in eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in children's heal...

BACKGROUND While Arab countries showed an impressive decline in child mortality rates during the past few decades, gaps in mortality by gender and socioeconomic status persisted. However, large socioeconomic disparities in child health were evident in almost every country in the region. METHODS Using available tabulations and reliable micro data from national household surveys, data for 18 Ar...

BACKGROUND Although oral health has improved remarkably in recent decades, not all populations have benefited equally. Ethnic identity, and in particular visible minority status, has been identified as an important risk factor for poor oral health. Canadian research on ethnic disparities in oral health is extremely limited. The aim of this study was to examine ethnic disparities in oral health ...

Oral health disparities refers to the existence of differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of oral diseases and other adverse health conditions, as well as the use of health care services, among specific population groups in the United States. Existence of disparities in oral health status, accessing and using the oral health care delivery system, and receiving treatment...

BACKGROUND Racial disparities in birth outcomes persist in North Carolina and the United States. We examined patterns of birth outcomes and womens health measures in North Carolina by race and age to portray the largest disparities. We wanted to see if our data were consistent with the "weathering hypothesis," which holds that the health of African American women may begin to deteriorate in ear...

Low birth weight (LBW) rates remain the highest among African Americans despite public health efforts to address these disparities; with some of the highest racial disparities in the Midwest (Kansas). The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) perspective offers an explanation for how LBW contributes to racial health disparities among African Americans and informs a community direc...

Dialogue in the medical and public health communities has increasingly focused attention in the area of health disparities. We believe that the elimination of health disparities in the United States will require a multipronged approach that includes, at the very least, new approaches in both biomedical and prevention interventions. We also believe that since health disparities primarily affect ...