Dr. Hank Green, associate professor in the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington (SPH-B) Department of Applied Health Science recently received funding from Health Equity Advancing through Learning System Research (HEAL-R) for a two-year IU Health equity research grant proposal entitled "Person to Person (P2P) Indiana Public Health Challenges & State Interventions Coding Project."
Drs. Green and Bernice A. Pescosolido, IU distinguished professor of sociology at IU serve as co–Principal Investigators (PIs) on this project. Designed as part of the IU Precision Health Initiative Grand Challenge, this P2P project aims to provide a broad, representative health survey specifically for the state residents of Indiana and identify key critical issues to spark needed areas for positive transformation.
"By focusing on critical issues that go beyond what is available in statewide registries or the health record, the P2P would offer unique insights for change," says Dr. Pescosolido. "Perhaps more importantly, it would bring the 'voice of the people' into our efforts to improve health in Indiana."
Drs. Pescosolido and Green assert in the Project Abstract that while key qualitative data have not yet been coded and analyzed, they still provide a rare chance to better understand health challenges and how individual actions could lead to potential heath improvements. Issues of disparities by race/ethnicity and social class will be investigated through a round of second interviews with identified specific cases.
"While health and health care disparities can be documented in existing data, rarely is there an opportunity to get past or 'underneath' these inequities to provide a scientific foundation for improving health and the health care system," says Green.
This close-to-home project is just one of many examples of SPH-B faculty serving as both prolific researchers and exemplary collaborators. Partnerships forged across research disciplines strengthens both the quality of research and the potential outcomes.