Searchable FAIR Database Provides Access to 30 Years of Healthcare Disparities Research

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Health care journalists, providers and administrators seeking research on interventions to address heath disparities now have access to the most comprehensive collection of summaries and systematic reviews of racial and ethnic health disparities intervention literature available anywhere.

The Finding Answers Intervention Research Database – known as the FAIR Database www.solvingdisparities.org/fair -- contains 388 journal article summaries from 11 systematic reviews of racial and ethnic health disparities intervention literature spanning from 1979 to 2011.  The systematic reviews were published as a Special Supplement to the October 2007 issue of Medical Care Research and Review, and an August 2012 Symposium in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

"We think this tool will be useful particularly for people looking for a wide variety of interventions," says Marshall H. Chin, MD, MPH, the Richard Parrillo Family Professor of Healthcare Ethics in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. Chin is Director of Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation located at the University of Chicago.

"The FAIR Database enables a user to search the literature by disease, racial or ethnic population and organizational setting, but it also allows search by intervention strategy," Chin added. "There are dozens of these, such as enhancing literacy, peer storytelling, restructuring the care team, providing vouchers for care, decision making support, and more."

For example, a search for Depression + African American+ Patient + "Providing Psychological Support" yields a list of 10 research papers (with embedded links) in journals including JAMA and the Journal of Health Psychology.   A search of HIV/AIDS + Latino + Community + "Restructuring the Care Team" yields four papers in journals including AIDS Education and Prevention, Research in Nursing & Health, and the Journal of Community Health. [Read more about Finding Answers' systematic reviews, and access free copies of all of the 11 publications here.]

The FAIR Database searches articles from systematic reviews of the disparities-reduction literature conducted by Finding Answers in the areas of asthma, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, HIV prevention, prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes mellitus, and breast cancer. These were chosen because they have a known high prevalence, cause significant morbidity and mortality, have clear standards of care, and have large documented disparities in care. [For inclusion criteria, see http://www.solvingdisparities.org/research/database.]

Follow @FndgAnswers' "Month of Tweets," this January for the latest conversation on  health disparities research, and check out #equity13 to see nationwide resolutions to reduce healthcare disparities.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. Follow the Foundation on Twitter (www.rwjf.org/twitter) or Facebook (www.rwjf.org/facebook).

About Finding Answers

Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change is a national program focused on discovering and evaluating innovative interventions to move the disparities field beyond the documentation of racial and ethnic differences in health care toward implementing efforts to eliminate these gaps in care. Finding Answers' work includes a six-step process that organizations can use to address disparities, recommendations for the kinds of interventions that work to reduce disparities, and systematic reviews of the disparities-reduction literature. For more information, visit www.solvingdisparities.org.

SOURCE Robert Wood Johnson Foundation