This is part of a series of guest NIMHD Insights blog posts where NIH Institute and Center Directors highlight initiatives, resources and funding opportunities relevant to minority health and health disparities research, and training at their Institutes. The goal of this guest blog series is to link NIMHD stakeholders to minority health and health disparities-related information and opportunities across NIH.

This post is from the director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. NIA is the primary federal agency supporting and conducting Alzheimer’s disease research.  

By Richard J. Hodes, M.D.
Director, National Institute on Aging

Dr. Richard J. Hodes

Reducing health disparities and increasing diversity in the research workforce are key priorities for the National Institute on Aging (NIA). As Director of the Institute for the past 25 years, I have seen enormous growth in NIA’s health disparities and diversity programs. We’re working to address the complex scientific questions of health disparities in aging-related diseases and conditions on a variety of fronts, including funding research into health disparities and aging and training a new, diverse generation of aging researchers.

Funding Health Disparities Research Related to Aging
In 2015, NIA staff and others, including Dr. Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, director of NIMHD and former National Advisory Council on Aging member, collaborated to develop and adopt the “NIA Health Disparities Research Framework” aiming to stimulate the study of environmental, sociocultural, behavioral, and biological factors that influence health disparities related to aging. Since then, our Office of Special Populations has developed a web portal and video to support researchers’ use of the Framework. Using it as a guide, since 2015, NIA has awarded over $100 million in research awards to explore health disparities related to aging. To learn more about NIA funding opportunities in health disparities research related to aging, visit the Framework or check out the opportunities below: Continue reading “Guest Blog Post: Reducing Health Disparities and Enhancing Diversity in Aging Research” →

By Sherine El-Toukhy, Ph.D., M.A.
Earl Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigator & NIH Distinguished Scholar
Division of Intramural Research, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Dr. Sherine El-Toukhy

A basic principle of effective communication is to know the audience.¹ This principle is especially important for patient-provider interactions that involve risk and diagnostic information, preventive measures, and instructions on medication regimens. But a message said is not necessarily a message understood. A patient’s understanding requires an ability to deal with written and spoken word and a grasp of basic math skills and concepts.² It requires a health literate patient.

As a researcher in the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), I have been intrigued by how people of all races and ethnicities consume and understand health information and how this affects their health decision making and behaviors. Recently, I published a review of factors that affect the quality of patient-provider interactions among underserved populations.³ My co-author and I found that health literacy was prominent among other patient and clinician related factors. Continue reading “Health Literacy: Why It Matters for Minority Health and Health Disparities” →

By Mariana Sanchez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work,
Florida International University
Research Associate, Center for Research on U.S. Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse

By Mario De La Rosa, Ph.D.
Professor, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work,
Florida International University
Director, Center for Research on U.S. Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse

Dr. Mariana Sanchez

Dr. Mario De La Rosa

National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15–October 15) provides an opportunity to reflect on how the histories, cultures, and contributions of Latino Americans have enriched our nation and society. As the largest ethnic minority group in the United States, numbering nearly 58 million, Latinos are the principal driver of demographic growth, accounting for half of the national population growth since 2000.¹ The U.S. Latino population continues to not only grow but diversify.  While Mexicans remain the largest U.S. Latino immigrant group, shifts in immigration patterns over the past decade indicate steep increases in Latino immigrants of Caribbean and Central and South American origin arriving in the U.S.¹

Continue reading “Tackling Health Disparities Among Latinos in the United States” →