Background

Historic and current discrimination and social injustice play a large role in health inequity and disparities throughout Texas. An essential step in eliminating these health disparities is to understand how structural barriers and geographic service limitations shape access to quality healthcare. In 2019, Texas ranked last in health care access and affordability, which has a significant impact on minority populations (Commonwealth Fund 2019). These challenges and their influence on our communities are outlined below. Through its highly interdisciplinary capacities, the CREEHS is well-equipped to create innovative initiatives that reduce healthcare barriers, improve quality, and ensure services are accessible to urban and rural communities in Texas. Healthcare Access and Utilization covers 4 key areas of research and policy:

  • Supporting Immediate Necessity for Equity in Healthcare Coverage
  • Addressing the Digital Health Divide in the State of Texas
  • Facilitating Cultural and Linguistic Appropriate Services, Health Literacy and Communication
  • Creating Integrated Behavioral Health and Primary Care Interventions

Leadership

Health Access. Quality & Utlization is a broad and diverse area with several sub-areas. Sara Champlin leads the Health Communication and Literacy area.

Ongoing Research Projects

The following are a list of our current projects:

  • Robert Wood Johnson - AcademyHealth, Health Data 4 Action Program, Data Access COVID-19 Award - Disparities in Healthcare Access for Individuals during the COVID-19 Pandemic Status: Awarded
  • UNT College of Information Seed Grant - What Health Looks Like: Using Graphic Medicine to Bring Underrepresented Voices Forward Through Public Library Health Literacy Programs Status: Awarded
  • UNT College of Liberal Arts and Social Science Seed Grant - Designing a Community-Driven Health Communications Toolkit to Engage Male Audiences: Integrating Community-based Research with Pedagogy Status: Awarded
  • Robert Wood Johnson - AcademyHealth, Health Data 4 Action Data Access 2020 Award: Examining the Health of Americans Facing Housing Instability (HI): The Burden of Chronic Diseases and Cancer-related Health Behaviors Status: Under review