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Although studies have evaluated the hospital cost of care associated with treating patients with COVID-19, there are no studies that compare the hospital cost of care among racial and ethnic groups based on detailed cost accounting data. The aims of this study were to provide a detailed description of the hospital costs of COVID-19 based on individual resources during the hospital stay and standardized costs that do not rely on inflation adjustment and evaluate the extent to which hospital total cost of care for patients with COVID-19 differs by race and ethnicity. This study used electronic medical record data from an urban academic medical center in Chicago, Illinois USA. Hospital cost of care was calculated using accounting data representing the cost of the resources used to the hospital (i.e., cost to the hospital, not payments). A multivariable generalized linear model with a log link function and inverse gaussian distribution family was used to calculate the average marginal effect (AME) for Black, White, and Hispanic patients. A second regression model further compared Hispanic patients by preferred language (English versus Spanish). In our sample of 1,853 patients, the average adjusted cost of care was significantly lower for Black compared to White patients (AME = -$5,606; 95% confidence interval (CI), -$10,711 to -$501), and Hispanic patients had higher cost of care compared to White patients (AME = $8,539, 95% CI, $3,963 to $13,115). In addition, Hispanic patients who preferred Spanish had significantly higher cost than Hispanic patients who preferred English (AME = $11,866; 95% CI $5,302 to $18,431). Total cost of care takes into account both the intensity of the treatment as well as the duration of the hospital stay. Thus, policy makers and health systems can use cost of care as a proxy for severity, especially when looking at the disparities among different race and ethnicity groups.

•Low enrollment of underrepresented populations in trials can limit study generalizability.•Lack of trust and communication are major impediments to trial participation.•Enhanced communication is crucial for promoting representation in clinical trials.•Researchers need to align and communicate study objectives with community needs. Clinical trial enrollment among underrepresented patient populations remains a critical challenge in biomedical research. This study was conducted for a clinical trial designed to identify biomarkers that would help predict the transition from acute to chronic pain. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to understand the perspectives of multiple stakeholders to characterize the factors that contribute to underrepresented patients’ decisions to participate in the trial and inform actionable strategies that can improve trial recruitment and retention. Forty-seven participants from a Midwestern US city participated in one-on-one interviews, including 26 patients, 11 healthcare providers and staff, and 10 community-based healthcare organization employees. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed inductively by an experienced health services researcher, with results organized into key themes. Analysis revealed six major themes about what influences underrepresented patients’ participation: Practical barriers to participation, historical context and past experiences impacting research apprehensiveness, communication gaps, and information needs, adapting protocols to address participation barriers, opportunities for building rapport and trust, and motivations and perceived benefits of participating. Common barriers included logistical challenges (eg, distance to medical center), distrust toward medical institutions, and poor communication about clinical trial opportunities, while efforts to intentionally build rapport and trust with patients and community members were identified as opportunities to improve recruitment. The results of this study demonstrated that the barriers and enablers to underrepresented patient participation in a clinical trial were diverse and included both systemic and individual factors. These findings were supported across participant groups, suggesting that the engagement of multiple perspectives in the design and implementation of clinical trials play a role in mitigating barriers to clinical trial participation and enhancing participant diversity.

West Side Alive (WSA) is a partnership among pastors, church members and health researchers with the goal of improving health in the churches and surrounding community in the West Side of Chicago, a highly segregated African American area of Chicago with high rates of premature mortality and social disadvantage. To inform health intervention development, WSA conducted a series of health screenings that took place in seven partner churches. Key measures included social determinants of health and healthcare access, depression and PTSD screeners, and measurement of cardiometabolic risk factors, including blood pressure, weight, cholesterol and hemoglobin A1C (A1C). A total of 1106 adults were screened, consisting of WSA church members (n = 687), members of the local community served by the church (n = 339) and 80 individuals with unknown church status. Mean age was 52.8 years, 57% were female, and 67% reported at least one social risk factor (e.g. food insecurity). Almost all participants had at least one cardiovascular risk factor (92%), including 50% with obesity, 79% with elevated blood pressure and 65% with elevated A1C. A third of participants experienced ≥ 4 potentially traumatic events and 26% screened positive for depression and/or post-traumatic stress disorder. Participants were given personalized health reports and referred to services as needed. Information from the screenings will be used to inform the design of interventions targeting the West Side community and delivered in partnership with the churches. Sharing these results helped mobilize community members to improve their own health and the health of their community.

BackgroundAfrican Americans suffer more than non-Hispanic whites from type 2 diabetes, but diabetes self-management education (DSME) has been less effective at improving glycemic control for African Americans. Our objective was to determine whether a novel, culturally tailored DSME intervention would result in sustained improvements in glycemic control in low-income African-American patients of public hospital clinics.Research Design and MethodsThis randomized controlled trial (n = 211) compared changes in hemoglobin A1c (A1c) at 6, 12, and 18 months between two arms: (1) Lifestyle Improvement through Food and Exercise (LIFE), a culturally tailored, 28-session community-based intervention, focused on diet and physical activity, and (2) a standard of care comparison group receiving two group DSME classes. Cluster-adjusted ANCOVA modeling was used to assess A1c changes from baseline to 6, 12, and 18 months, respectively, between arms.ResultsAt 6 months, A1c decreased significantly more in the intervention group than the control group (− 0.76 vs − 0.21%, p = 0.03). However, by 12 and 18 months, the difference was no longer significant (12 months − 0.63 intervention vs − 0.45 control, p = 0.52). There was a decrease in A1c over 18 months in both the intervention (β = − 0.026, p = 0.003) and the comparison arm (β = − 0.018, p = 0.048) but no difference in trend (p = 0.472) between arms. The intervention group had greater improvements in nutrition knowledge (11.1 vs 6.0 point change, p = 0.002) and diet quality (4.0 vs − 0.5 point change, p = 0.018) while the comparison group had more participants with improved medication adherence (24% vs 10%, p < 0.05) at 12 months.ConclusionsThe LIFE intervention resulted in improved nutrition knowledge and diet quality and the comparison intervention resulted in improved medication adherence. LIFE participants showed greater A1c reduction than standard of care at 6 months but the difference between groups was no longer significant at 12 and 18 months.NIH Trial Registry NumberNCT01901952

African Americans (AAs) have higher prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension than Whites, which leads to reduced life expectancy. Barriers to achieving blood pressure control in AAs include mistrust of healthcare and poor adherence to medication and dietary recommendations. We conducted a pilot study of a church-based community health worker (CHW) intervention to reduce blood pressure among AAs by providing support and strategies to improve diet and medication adherence. To increase trust and cultural concordance, we hired and trained church members to serve as CHWs. AA adults ( n  = 79) with poorly controlled blood pressure were recruited from churches in a low-income, segregated neighborhood of Chicago. Participants had an average of 7.5 visits with CHWs over 6 months. Mean change in systolic blood pressure across participants was − 5 mm/Hg ( p  = 0.029). Change was greater among participants ( n  = 45) with higher baseline blood pressure (− 9.2, p  = 0.009). Medication adherence increased at follow-up, largely due to improved timeliness of medication refills, but adherence to the DASH diet decreased slightly. Intervention fidelity was poor. Recordings of CHW visits revealed that CHWs did not adhere closely to the intervention protocol, especially with regard to assisting participants with action plans for behavior change. Participants gave the intervention high ratings for acceptability and appropriateness, and slightly lower ratings for feasibility of achieving intervention behavioral targets. Participants valued having the intervention delivered at their church and preferred a church-based intervention to an intervention conducted in a clinical setting. A church-based CHW intervention may be effective at reducing blood pressure in AAs.

Background: Health disparities between people who are African American (AA) versus their White counterparts have been well established, but disparities among AA people have not. The current study introduces a systematic method to determine subgroups within a sample of AA people based on their social determinants of health. Methods: Health screening data collected in the West Side of Chicago, an underserved predominantly AA area, in 2018 were used. Exploratory latent class analysis was used to determine subgroups of participants based on their responses to 16 variables, each pertaining to a specific social determinant of health. Results: Four unique clusters of participants were found, corresponding to those with “many unmet needs”, “basic unmet needs”, “unmet healthcare needs”, and “few unmet needs”. Conclusion: The findings support the utility of analytically determining meaningful subgroups among a sample of AA people and their social determinants of health. Understanding the differences within an underserved population may contribute to future interventions to eliminate health disparities.

Effective community-engaged research is critical for designing and testing solutions to decrease the 10-year life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black residents of Chicago, Illinois. In community listening sessions, the Chicago Chronic Conditions Engagement Network found that community members’ highest priority health issues were social determinants of health and that there is a strong mistrust of research. Conversations with leaders of community organizations addressing social determinants of health suggest strategies to help researchers overcome mistrust and build effective community–research partnerships. ( Am J Public Health. 2025;115(S2):S130–S133. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308082 )

BackgroundSubstantial disparities in life expectancy exist between Chicago’s 77 defined community areas, ranging from approximately 69 to 85 years. Prior work in New York City and Boston has shown that community-level racial and economic segregation as measured by the Index of Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) is strongly related to premature mortality. This novel metric allows for the joint assessment of area-based income and racial polarisation. This study aimed to assess the relationships between racial and economic segregation and economic hardship with premature mortality in Chicago.MethodsAnnual age-adjusted premature mortality rates (deaths <65 years) from 2011 to 2015 were calculated for Chicago’s 77 community areas. ICE measures for household income (

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