COVID-19 Among African Americans: An Action Plan for Mitigating Disparities |
Since April 2020, striking disparities in COVID-19 mortality between African American and White populations have been reported across the United States. In a new publication, a team of researchers including Dr. Monica Peek (CHAS Fellow and UChicago Professor of Medicine) illustrate how structural racism has led to inequities in education, employment, income, policing and incarceration, health care access, chronic stress, and many other factors that can affect a person's health. Furthermore, they explain that addressing racial disparities in COVID-19 must use both place-based and individual risk-based strategies grounded in public health practices that utilize data, boost public health infrastructure, leverage cross sector collaboration, and mobilize community partnerships. Their paper outlines a set of policy and practice recommendations from the Chicago Racial Equity Rapid Response Team that were formed to address the city's COVID-19 disparities. Read the complete article and recommendations below.
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Policy Responses to the Addiction Crisis |
An essay co-authored by Harold Pollack (Helen Ross Professor at the Crown Family School) calls attention to another major public health crisis in the United States: the addiction crisis. In this essay, the authors explain that the opioid epidemic has already taken more American lives than World Wars I and II combined. Furthermore, it is but the most visible sign of a larger public health problem. They propose a set of practical legislative and executive actions for the Biden administration to mitigate the crisis. They focus on two broad policy challenges including improving financing and delivery of treatment for substance use disorders and reducing population exposure to addictive and lethal substances. Through well-implemented, evidence-based policies, they propose that the new administration can save thousands of American lives each year. Read the full essay and policy recommendations below.
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Examining the Inclusivity of US Trials of COVID-19 Treatment |
A study conducted by Dr. Anna Volerman (CHAS Fellow and UChicago Professor of Medicine) and Dr. Neda Laiteerapong (CHAS Fellow and UChicago Professor of Medicine) looks at the inclusivity of COVID-19 treatment trials to better understand their applicability to highly affected populations who are traditionally underrepresented in research. They conducted a cross-sectional analysis of all COVID-19 treatment trials that were registered on ClinicalTrials.gov since June 2020. Their analysis found that half of the trials excluded people with high-risk chronic conditions, and most trials excluded children, pregnant women, and lactating women. They also found that US COVID-19 trials are being conducted at locations that do not typically care for high proportions of Black and Hispanic patients. Considering the time-sensitive nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the underrepresentation of these groups, they recommend reconsideration of recruitment criteria for COVID-19 treatment trials to increase the generalizability of results. Read the complete study below.
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Harold Pollack, PhD
University of Chicago
2/23/2021 @ 12:30 pm CDT
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Jonathan Cohn
HuffPost
4/13/2021 @ 12:30 pm CDT
Lecture TBA
4/20/2021 @ 12:30 pm CDT
Stephanie Rennane, PhD, MA
RAND Corporation
4/27/2021 @ 12:30 pm CDT
Julia Henly, PhD
University of Chicago
5/4/2021 @ 12:30 pm CDT
Dexter Voisin, PhD
University of Toronto
5/11/2021 @ 12:30 pm CDT
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Invisible Visits: Black Middle-Class Women in the American Healthcare System
Dr. Tina Sacks, AM ’98, PhD ’13 Assistant Professor
School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley
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Follow CHAS on Social Media for Updates |
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Register for Spring Davis eLectures |
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Registration is now open for the Spring 2021 Davis eLecture Series! All of these webinars will be held on consecutive Tuesdays (at lunchtime) via Zoom. View the Spring schedule for upcoming guest lecturers on our website and under "Upcoming Lectures" at the top of this newsletter. Guest panelists and topics will continue to be announced throughout the quarter.
If you were unable to attend any Winter eLectures, we invite you to watch the recordings for these events on our YouTube channel!
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Apply for 2021 CHAS Seed Grants |
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The Center for Health Administration Studies (CHAS) at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice is proud to offer accepting proposals to our 2021 CHAS Seed Grants opportunity. Seed Grants provide modest research funding for a limited time (usually two years) to enable faculty investigators to explore the feasibility of a concept related to the mission of the Center and generate sufficient data to pursue it through other funding mechanisms. Learn more about our Seed Grants program on our website or search for “Center for Health Administration Studies” at fundingopportunities.uchicago.edu.
Applications will be accepted until Friday, April 30th, 2021.
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Despite the challenges and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center for Health Administration Studies (CHAS) continued to support research, steer innovative inquiry, and promote learning and teaching in health policy and services. In 2020, and proceeding into the 2021 academic year, the Center adapted to utilizing online and virtual resources to support key programming, including online workshops and committees, CHAS Seed Grants, Michael M. Davis eLectures, and stipends to pre-doctoral students. Take a look back at this past year with CHAS in the 2020 Annual Report below. |
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