Debra Furr-Holden
Debra Furr-Holden
Dean of the School of Global Public Health
Professor of Epidemiology
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Professional overview
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The NYU School of Global Public Health begins a new chapter along its path to excellence in education, research, policy and practice with the appointment of C. Debra M. Furr-Holden, an epidemiologist and passionate advocate for health equity, as Dean of GPH and Professor of Epidemiology. A public health professional with broad expertise in health disparities and policy-level interventions toward health equity, her scholarship encompasses a range of topics including drug and alcohol dependence epidemiology, psychiatric epidemiology, and prevention science.
Dean Furr-Holden hails from Michigan State University, where she was the C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health and associate dean for public health integration. In announcing her appointment, effective July 2022, NYU President Andrew Hamilton noted Dr. Furr-Holden’s extensive experience working with local and national policymakers, her skill at team-building and success as a mentor, and her exceptional talent as a communicator on public health and health equity issues.
Indeed, it is Dean Furr-Holden’s action-oriented research and commitment to training the next generation of public health practitioners that dovetails perfectly with GPH’s mission to use data-driven interventions and cutting-edge innovation to identify and implement equitable solutions to both domestic and international public health challenges.
In addition to her endowed professorship at MSU, Dr. Furr-Holden served as director of the NIH-funded Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions at the College of Human Medicine. During the Covid-19 pandemic she was appointed to the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, the Greater Flint Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Inequity, and the New York City African American Covid-19 Task Force. Most notably, in Michigan and Flint the racial disparity in Covid-19 cases and deaths among African Americans was eliminated.
Prior to her appointments at MSU Dr. Furr-Holden was an assistant (2007) and later associate (2011) professor at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she retains an appointment as an adjunct professor. Before Johns Hopkins, she was a research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation and a faculty member at Morgan State University.
Dean Furr-Holden is a widely published scholar whose writings include more than 120 peer-reviewed papers in high impact journals. In 2021 she published a seminal article in Addiction that highlighted racial disparities in opioid overdose deaths over the past two decades, and she was recently quoted in an exclusive article in The New York Times examining the demography of deaths nationwide from Covid-19.
Dean Furr-Holden is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the White House Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers; the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Junior Faculty Mentoring Award; and the Meeting the Moment for Public Health Award, recognizing the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, of which she is a founding member.
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Education
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BA, Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Baltimore, MAPhD, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MA
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Publications
Publications
Establishing the Relative Accuracy of Using City Directories as Proxies to Define and Reconstruct Historical Alcohol Environments
AbstractSadler, R. C., Trangenstein, P., Harris, A., Buchalski, Z., Wojciechowski, T. W., & Furr-Holden, C. D. (n.d.).Publication year
2023Journal title
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and DrugsVolume
84Issue
1Page(s)
158-170AbstractOBJECTIVE: Research on alcohol environments has established that poorer and minoritized communities are frequently overburdened by off-premise outlets (e.g., liquor stores). These outlets have more associated harms, including increased alcohol consumption and crime rates. Little, if any, research has shown how these socio-spatial disparities in exposure have grown or shifted over time, and no studies have established a method for re-creating historical alcohol environments. METHOD: Our results suggest that in our study city of Flint, MI, disparities in the alcohol environment have narrowed since 1950. Although liquor stores are still more likely to be located in poorer and more heavily African American neighborhoods, the pattern has become insignificant over time. Furthermore, the number of alcohol outlets per capita has declined. Thus, although the city remains more overburdened with alcohol outlets than its suburbs, the disparity has shrunk. CONCLUSIONS: This work has implications for those working in alcohol prevention and policy, as well as in urban planning. Practitioners and researchers can use this method to model alcohol availability over time in their own communities, which helps better inform the discussion on disparities experienced in poor and minoritized neighborhoods.In Reply to Yung and Morris
Milam, A. J., McDougle, L., & Furr-Holden, D. (n.d.). In Academic Medicine.Publication year
2023Volume
98Issue
1Page(s)
9Organizational Leaders Perceptions of Barriers to Accessing Behavioral Health Services in a Low-Resource Community
AbstractMontgomery, B. W., Maschino, L. D., Felton, J. W., Young, K., Furr-Holden, C. D., & Stoddard, S. A. (n.d.).Publication year
2023Journal title
Journal of Behavioral Health Services and ResearchVolume
50Issue
1Page(s)
36-48AbstractLittle is known about how to effectively implement behavioral health programs in low-resource communities. Leaders from 20 community-serving behavioral health organizations in Flint, MI, were asked about their organizations and the barriers that they, and the populations they serve, face in providing and accessing behavioral health services. Barriers are reported using a mixed-methods analysis, reporting the number and percentage of organizations that experienced the barrier along with example quotations from the organization leaders. The most frequently reported barrier to providing services was finding adequate funding (50%) while the most frequently reported barrier for accessing services was finding adequate and reliable transportation (30%). Comparisons of these findings with barriers reported by providers in different settings and those seeking services are discussed. These comparisons may provide an important next step in identifying areas where providers perceptions and the needs of the population are misaligned and for systemic improvements more broadly.Peer Recovery Coaches Perceptions of Their Work and Their Implications for Training, Support and Personal Recovery
AbstractFelton, J. W., Abidogun, T. M., Senters, K., Maschino, L. D., Montgomery, B. W., Tyson, R., Furr-Holden, C. D., & Stoddard, S. A. (n.d.).Publication year
2023Journal title
Community mental health journalAbstractThe peer recovery workforce, including individuals in sustained recovery from substance use, has grown rapidly in the previous decades. Peer recovery coaches represent a scalable, resource-efficient, and acceptable approach to increasing service delivery, specifically among individuals receiving substance use services in low-resource communities. Despite the potential to improve access to care in traditionally underserved settings, there are a number of barriers to successfully integrating peer recovery coaches in existing recovery services. The current study presents results from two focus groups composed of peer recovery coaches. Findings suggest that peer recovery coaches report discordance between their perceived role and their daily responsibilities and experience both inter- and intrapersonal challenges that impact their own recovery processes. These results point to several promising policy and structural changes that may support and enhance this growing workforce.An Evaluation Framework of a Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center for Health Equity Research
AbstractEllington, R., Barajas, C. B., Drahota, A., Meghea, C., Uphold, H., Scott, J. B., Lewis, E. Y., & Furr-Holden, C. D. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
American Journal of EvaluationVolume
43Issue
3Page(s)
357-377AbstractOver the last few decades, there has been an increase in the number of large federally funded transdisciplinary programs and initiatives. Scholars have identified a need to develop frameworks, methodologies, and tools to evaluate the effectiveness of these large collaborative initiatives, providing precise ways to understand and assess the operations, community and academic partner collaboration, scientific and community research dissemination, and cost-effectiveness. Unfortunately, there has been limited research on methodologies and frameworks that can be used to evaluate large initiatives. This study presents a framework for evaluating the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions (FCHES), a National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)-funded Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC) for health disparities research. This report presents a summary of the FCHES evaluation framework and evaluation questions as well as findings from the Year-2 evaluation of the Center and lessons learned.Experiences of Discrimination, Institutional Responses to Seminal Race Events, and Depressive Symptoms in Black U.S. Medical Students
Linking Historical Discriminatory Housing Patterns to the Contemporary Alcohol Environment
AbstractSadler, R. C., Wojciechowski, T. W., Trangenstein, P., Harris, A., Buchalski, Z., & Furr-Holden, D. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
Applied Spatial Analysis and PolicyAbstractResearch on alcohol outlet density consistently shows greater disparities in exposure in disinvested communities. Likewise, structural racism via discriminatory housing practices has created many of the issues that beset contemporary disinvested neighborhoods. Little work, however, has examined the relationship between housing practices and alcohol outlet disparities. The central premise of our work is that these discriminatory and inequitable practices create distinctions in the alcohol environment, and that such disparities have implications for work on alcohol policy. Here we link alcohol outlet density with a spatial database examining redlining, blockbusting, and gentrification in Baltimore, Maryland, and Flint, Michigan (two cities with common experiences of urban disinvestment over the last 50 years). Standard measures are used to account for the impacts of neighborhood racial, socioeconomic, and housing composition in a multilevel model. Our findings highlight that gentrification and redlining are strongly associated with alcohol outlet density, while blockbusting is not. Gentrification and redlining also frequently co-occur in inner-urban areas, while the more suburban phenomenon of blockbusting rarely overlaps with either. These findings further contextualize nascent work on structural racism in housing that illustrates important disparities along the lines of these distinct practices. Future work should consider how legacy impacts of discriminatory housing patterns impact our communities today.Mission, Organization, and Future Direction of the Serological Sciences Network for COVID-19 (SeroNet) Epidemiologic Cohort Studies
AbstractFigueiredo, J. C., Hirsch, F. R., Kushi, L. H., Nembhard, W. N., Crawford, J. M., Mantis, N., Finster, L., Merin, N. M., Merchant, A., Reckamp, K. L., Melmed, G. Y., Braun, J., Mcgovern, D., Parekh, S., Corley, D. A., Zohoori, N., Amick, B. C., Du, R., Gregersen, P. K., Diamond, B., Taioli, E., Sariol, C., Espino, A., Weiskopf, D., Gifoni, A., Brien, J., Hanege, W., Lipsitch, M., Zidar, D. A., Scheck Mcalearney, A., Wajnberg, A., Labaer, J., Yvonne Lewis, E., Binder, R. A., Moormann, A. M., Forconi, C., Forrester, S., Batista, J., Schieffelin, J., Kim, D., Biancon, G., Vanoudenhove, J., Halene, S., Fan, R., Barouch, D. H., Alter, G., Pinninti, S., Boppana, S. B., Pati, S. K., Latting, M., Karaba, A. H., Roback, J., Sekaly, R., Neish, A., Brincks, A. M., Granger, D. A., Karger, A. B., Thyagarajan, B., Thomas, S. N., Klein, S. L., Cox, A. L., Lucas, T., Furr-Holden, D., Key, K., Jones, N., Wrammerr, J., Suthar, M., Yu Wong, S., Bowman, N. M., Simon, V., Richardson, L. D., Mcbride, R., Krammer, F., Rana, M., Kennedy, J., Boehme, K., Forrest, C., Granger, S. W., Heaney, C. D., Knight Lapinski, M., Wallet, S., Baric, R. S., Schifanella, L., Lopez, M., Fernandez, S., Kenah, E., Panchal, A. R., Britt, W. J., Sanz, I., Dhodapkar, M., Ahmed, R., Bartelt, L. A., Markmann, A. J., Lin, J. T., Hagan, R. S., Wolfgang, M. C., & Skarbinski, J. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
Open Forum Infectious DiseasesVolume
9Issue
6AbstractBackground: Global efforts are needed to elucidate the epidemiology of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the underlying cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including seroprevalence, risk factors, and long-Term sequelae, as well as immune responses after vaccination across populations and the social dimensions of prevention and treatment strategies. Methods: In the United States, the National Cancer Institute in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, established the SARS-CoV-2 Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet) as the nation's largest coordinated effort to study coronavirus disease 2019. The network comprises multidisciplinary researchers bridging gaps and fostering collaborations among immunologists, epidemiologists, virologists, clinicians and clinical laboratories, social and behavioral scientists, policymakers, data scientists, and community members. In total, 49 institutions form the SeroNet consortium to study individuals with cancer, autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, cardiovascular diseases, human immunodeficiency virus, transplant recipients, as well as otherwise healthy pregnant women, children, college students, and high-risk occupational workers (including healthcare workers and first responders). Results: Several studies focus on underrepresented populations, including ethnic minorities and rural communities. To support integrative data analyses across SeroNet studies, efforts are underway to define common data elements for standardized serology measurements, cellular and molecular assays, self-reported data, treatment, and clinical outcomes. Conclusions: In this paper, we discuss the overarching framework for SeroNet epidemiology studies, critical research questions under investigation, and data accessibility for the worldwide scientific community. Lessons learned will help inform preparedness and responsiveness to future emerging diseases.Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Among Black Medical Students: the Role of Peer Connectedness and Perceived Discrimination
Trajectory Modeling of Spatio-Temporal Trends in COVID-19 Incidence in Flint and Genesee County, Michigan
AbstractWojciechowski, T. W., Sadler, R. C., Buchalski, Z., Harris, A., Lederer, D., & Furr-Holden, C. D. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
Annals of EpidemiologyVolume
67Page(s)
29-34AbstractPurpose: : The establishment of community-academic partnerships to digest data and create actionable policy and advocacy steps is of continuing importance. In this paper, we document COVID-19 racial and geographic disparities uncovered via a collaboration between a local health department and university research center. Methods: : We leverage individual level data for all COVID-19 cases aggregated to the census block group level, where group-based trajectory modeling was employed to identify latent patterns of change and continuity in COVID-19 diagnoses. Results: : Linking with socioeconomic data from the census, we identified the types of communities most heavily affected by each of Michigan's two waves (in spring and fall of 2020). This includes a geographic and racial gap in COVID-19 cases during the first wave, which is largely eliminated during the second wave. Conclusions: : Our work has been extremely valuable for community partners, informing community-level response toward testing, treatment, and vaccination. In particular, identifying and conducting advocacy on the sizeable racial disparity in COVID-19 cases during the first wave in spring 2020 helped our community nearly eliminate disparities throughout the second wave in fall 2020.Using trajectory modeling of spatio-temporal trends to illustrate disparities in COVID-19 death in flint and Genesee County, Michigan
AbstractSadler, R. C., Wojciechowski, T. W., Buchalski, Z., Harris, A., Lederer, D., Peters, M., Hackert, P., & Furr-Holden, C. D. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
Spatial and Spatio-temporal EpidemiologyVolume
43AbstractCOVID-19′s rapid onset left many public health entities scrambling. But establishing community-academic partnerships to digest data and create advocacy steps offers an opportunity to link research to action. Here we document disparities in COVID-19 death uncovered during a collaboration between a health department and university research center. We geocoded COVID-19 deaths in Genesee County, Michigan, to model clusters during two waves in spring and fall 2020. We then aggregated these deaths to census block groups, where group-based trajectory modeling identified latent patterns of change and continuity. Linking with socioeconomic data, we identified the most affected communities. We discovered a geographic and racial gap in COVID-19 deaths during the first wave, largely eliminated during the second. Our partnership generated added and immediate value for community partners, including around prevention, testing, treatment, and vaccination. Our identification of the aforementioned racial disparity helped our community nearly eliminate disparities during the second wave.Adolescent Development in Context: A Decade Review of Neighborhood and Activity Space Research
Failed generating bibliography.AbstractPublication year
2021Journal title
Journal of Research on AdolescenceVolume
31Issue
4Page(s)
944-965AbstractOver the last decade, two lines of inquiry have emerged from earlier investigations of adolescent neighborhood effects. First, researchers began incorporating space-time geography to study adolescent development within activity spaces or routine activity locations and settings. Second, cultural-developmental researchers implicated neighborhood settings in cultural development, to capture neighborhood effects on competencies and processes that are salient or normative for minoritized youth. We review the decade’s studies on adolescent externalizing, internalizing, academic achievement, health, and cultural development within neighborhoods and activity spaces. We offer recommendations supporting decompartmentalization of cultural-developmental and activity space scholarship to advance the science of adolescent development in context.Alcohol outlets, drug paraphernalia sales, and neighborhood drug overdose
An NIH investment in health equity - the economic impact of the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions
AbstractMeghea, C. I., Montgomery, B. W., Ellington, R., Wang, L., Barajas, C., Lewis, E. Y., Yeary, S. T., Van Egeren, L. A., & Furr-Holden, D. (n.d.).Publication year
2021Journal title
BMC public healthVolume
21Issue
1AbstractBackground: Health disparities are pervasive and are linked to economic losses in the United States of up to $135 billion per year. The Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions (FCHES) is a Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center for health disparities research funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). The purpose of this study was to estimate the economic impact of the 5-year investment in FCHES in Genesee County, Michigan. Methods: The estimated impacts of FCHES were calculated using a U.S.-specific input/output (I/O) model, IMPLAN, from IMPLAN Group, LLC., which provides a software system to access geographic specific data regarding economic sector interactions from a variety of sources. This allowed us to model the cross-sector economic activity that occurred throughout Genesee County, Michigan, as a result of the FCHES investment. The overall economic impacts were estimated as the sum of three impact types: 1. Direct (the specific expenditures impact of FCHES and the Scientific Research and Development Services sector); 2. Indirect (the impact on suppliers to FCHES and the Scientific Research and Development Services sector); and 3. Induced (the additional economic impact of the spending of these suppliers and employees in the county economy). Results: The total FCHES investment amounted to approximately $11 million between 2016 and 2020. Overall, combined direct, indirect, and induced impacts of the total FCHES federal investment in Genesee County included over 161 job-years, over $7.6 million in personal income, and more than $19.2 million in economic output. In addition, this combined economic activity generated close to $2.3 million in state/local and federal tax revenue. The impact multipliers show the ripple effect of the FCHES investment. For example, the overall output of over $19.2 million led to an impact multiplier of 1.75 – every $1 of federal FCHES investment led to an additional $.75 of economic output in Genesee County. Conclusions: The FCHES research funding yields significant direct economic impacts above and beyond the direct NIH investment of $11 million. The economic impact estimation method may be relevant and generalizable to other large research centers such as FCHES.Black, white, or green? The effects of racial composition and socioeconomic status on neighborhood-level tobacco outlet density
AbstractFakunle, D. O., Curriero, F. C., Leaf, P. J., Furr-Holden, D. M., & Thorpe, R. J. (n.d.).Publication year
2021Journal title
Ethnicity and HealthVolume
26Issue
7Page(s)
1012-1027AbstractObjective: To compare predominantly-Black and predominantly-White Maryland areas with similar socioeconomic status to examine the role of both race and socioeconomic status on tobacco outlet availability and tobacco outlet access. Design: Maryland tobacco outlet addresses were geocoded with 2011–2015 American Community Survey sociodemographic data. Two-sample t-tests were conducted comparing the mean values of sociodemographic variables and tobacco outlet density per Census Tract, and spatial lag based regression models were conducted to analyze the direct association between covariables and tobacco outlet density while accounting for spatial dependence between and within jurisdictions. Results: Predominantly-White jurisdictions had lower tobacco outlet availability and access than predominantly-Black jurisdictions, despite similar socioeconomic status. Spatial lag model results showed that median household income and vacant houses had consistent associations with tobacco outlet density across most of the jurisdictions analyzed, and place-based spatial lag models showed direct associations between predominantly-Black jurisdictions and tobacco outlet availability and access. Conclusion: Predominantly-White areas have lower levels of tobacco outlet density than predominantly-Black areas, despite both areas having similar socioeconomic statuses.Evaluation of a local ordinance to prevent any underage purchases in liquor stores: The need for enforcement
Health Data Disparities in Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths From 1999 to 2018 in the United States
Linking historical discriminatory housing patterns to the contemporary food environment in Baltimore
AbstractSadler, R. C., Bilal, U., & Furr-Holden, C. D. (n.d.).Publication year
2021Journal title
Spatial and Spatio-temporal EpidemiologyVolume
36AbstractFood access literature links disinvested communities with poor food access. Similarly, links are made between discriminatory housing practices and contemporary investment. Less work has examined the relationship between housing practices and food environment disparities. Our central premise is that these practices create distinctions in food environment quality, and that these disparities may have implications for food system advocacy and policymaking. In this paper, we link an objective food environment assessment with a spatial database highlighting redlining, blockbusting, and gentrification in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Standard socioeconomic and housing characteristics are used to control for race, income, and housing composition in a multivariate regression analysis. Our findings highlight that blockbusting—rather than redlining—most strongly shapes poor food access. Redlining and gentrification, meanwhile, are associated with better food access. These findings raise important points about future policy discussions, which should instead be focused on ameliorating more contemporary patterns of housing inequality.Reply to Drs. Hart and Cadet: we agree—the challenges of increasing equity, diversity and inclusion include societal issues and actions now are vital
Henningfield, J. E., Fields, S., Anthony, J. C., Brown, L. S., Bolaños-Guzmán, C. A., Comer, S. D., De La Garza, R., Furr-Holden, D., Garcia-Romeu, A., Hatsukami, D., Raznahan, A., & Zarate, C. A. (n.d.). In Neuropsychopharmacology.Publication year
2021Volume
46Issue
5Page(s)
878-879Right Sizing Flint’s Infrastructure in the Wake of the Flint Water Crisis Would Constitute an Additional Environmental Injustice
AbstractSadler, R. C., Furr-Holden, D., Greene-Moton, E., Larkin, B., Timlin, M., Walling, D., & Wyatt, T. (n.d.).Publication year
2021Journal title
Journal of the American Planning AssociationVolume
87Issue
3Page(s)
424-432AbstractRight sizing has become an essential talking point in discussing next steps for postindustrial and shrinking cities as they struggle to maintain outdated, outsized infrastructure. Yet the literature has been clear that balancing economic and social objectives must be a key part of the discussion, especially given that historical patterns of disinvestment have disproportionately affected socioeconomically disadvantaged and racial/ethnic minority populations. In this Viewpoint, we illuminate concerns on a recent article published in this journal on right sizing that Flint (MI) should have enacted in the wake of its catastrophic water crisis. We present the nature of decline in Flint, as well as evidence from Flint’s recent master plan and its history with urban renewal that demonstrates why recommending such a policy not only goes against common urban planning practice but misses the local context in Flint, which is marked by deep-seated apprehension of the inequitable underpinnings of historical urban planning practice.A novel method for evaluating and comparing community health reports
AbstractHines, C. J., Smart, M., Delellis, N., Remington Sprague, F., & Furr-Holden, D. (n.d.).Publication year
2020Journal title
Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and ActionVolume
14Issue
3Page(s)
307-313AbstractObjectives: This study assessed the comprehensiveness and efficiency of existing Flint area public health community data using a novel method. One hundred thirty-eight community public health data reports were identified and screened for inclusion from Internet searches and community partner interviews. Methods: Forty-two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-based health metrics were adopted as a standard for unbiased comparison. For each report, a percentage “match-to-standard” was calculated (i.e., we calculated the percentage of CDC recommended metrics that were covered in the report). The two locally generated reports with the highest match-to-standard scores were compared for overlap. Results: There were 138 initially identified reports, and 110 unique reports remained after duplicates were removed. Twenty public health data reports met inclusion criteria and were included in the final sample. The top local public health data report yielded a 59.5% match-to-standard, indicating a 23.8% gap in current Flint area community data. Evaluation across all reports yielded an 89.3% match-to-standard with a 10.7% gap. An overlap of 70% exists between the two local reports with the highest match-to-standard scores. Conclusions: This research identified key health metrics not captured by current locally generated Flint public health reports. The 23.8% gap indicates an opportunity to improve local public health data report comprehensiveness. The 70% overlap across the two local reports with greatest match-tostandard scores generated locally, indicates potential duplication and an opportunity to improve efficiency.Access to Care during a Global Health Crisis
Furr-Holden, D., Carter-Pokras, O., Kimmel, M., & Mouton, C. (n.d.).Publication year
2020Journal title
Health EquityVolume
4Issue
1Page(s)
150-157Alcohol Advertising and Violence
Are Clinicians Contributing to Excess African American COVID-19 Deaths? Unbeknownst to Them, They May Be
AbstractMilam, A. J., Furr-Holden, D., Edwards-Johnson, J., Webb, B., Patton, J. W., Ezekwemba, N. C., Porter, L., Davis, T. M., Chukwurah, M., Webb, A. J., Simon, K., Franck, G., Anthony, J., Onuoha, G., Brown, I. M., Carson, J. T., & Stephens, B. C. (n.d.).Publication year
2020Journal title
Health EquityVolume
4Issue
1Page(s)
139-141AbstractAfrican Americans are overrepresented among reported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and deaths. There are a multitude of factors that may explain the African American disparity in COVID-19 outcomes, including higher rates of comorbidities. While individual-level factors predictably contribute to disparate COVID-19 outcomes, systematic and structural factors have not yet been reported. It stands to reason that implicit biases may fuel the racial disparity in COVID-19 outcomes. To address this racial disparity, we must apply a health equity lens and disaggregate data explicitly for African Americans, as well as other populations at risk for biased treatment in the health-care system.Discrepancies in Local, State, and National Alcohol Outlet Listings: Implications for Research and Interventions
AbstractMilam, A. J., Barajas, C. B., Buchalski, Z., Wang, L., Sadler, R. C., & Furr-Holden, C. D. M. (n.d.).Publication year
2020Journal title
Substance Use and MisuseVolume
55Issue
14Page(s)
2348-2356AbstractBackground: The availability of local, state, and national data on alcohol outlet density have important implications for policies and interventions aiming to reduce alcohol-related problems. High-quality data on locations of alcohol outlets is important to accurately inform community interventions and public health initiatives, but such data is often not maintained, readily available, or of sufficient quality. Objectives: This study aims to examine the discrepancies between alcohol outlet databases and how neighborhood characteristics (i.e. income, majority racial population, urbanicity) are associated with the discrepancies between databases. Methods: Data was collected from national (n = 1), local (n = 2), and state databases (n = 3). Negative binomial regression models were used to assess discrepancies in alcohol outlet count at the ZIP code level based on the data source. Results: The average density of alcohol outlets (per 1000 residents) ranged from 0.71 to 2.17 in Maryland, 1.65 to 5.17 in Wisconsin, and 1.09 to 1.22 in Oregon based on different sources of data. Findings suggest high income areas (>200% poverty level) have fewer discrepancies (IR = 0.775, p < 0.01), low income areas (below poverty level) have greater discrepancies (IR = 4.990, p < 0.01), and urban areas tend to have fewer discrepancies (IR = 0.378, p < 0.01) between datasets. Conclusion: Interventions and policies depend on valid and reliable data; researchers, policymakers, and local agencies need to collaborate to develop methods to maintain accurate and accessible data.
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