OUR MISSION
Our central focus is examining and ameliorating health and social inequities based on gaps in research and policy formation concerning the social determinants of health and broad socioeconomic factors central to health justice. The center will conduct and disseminate interdisciplinary research for peer-reviewed publications, serve as a health equity research clearing house, pursue external grant funding opportunities, examine structural inequality about health justice, provide scholarly and public educational opportunities, and engage in public policy recommendations. Important to our mission is linking our efforts to community-based interventions and practices in Utah and beyond.
The center will be an incubator for creating world-class trainees and faculty leaders and be an intellectual home for developing cutting-edge solutions for significant social and health disparities, and public policy formation. As an interdisciplinary effort with a One-U approach, the center will be organized into three pillars to achieve its mission:
Educational Disparities
The center will participate in studies to identify and eliminate racialized educational inequalities within Utah and the intermountain region. This includes examining factors contributing to less-than-optimal outcomes and success for children and youths from disadvantaged communities in Pre-K through 12, postsecondary, and graduate education.
Health Justice
Health equity and health disparities are paramount to health justice. According to a 2011 American Journal of Public Health article, “Disparities in health and its determinants are the metric for assessing health equity, the principle underlying a commitment to reducing disparities in health and its determinants; health equity is social justice in health.” The proposed center will collaborate with existing health equity centers on campus and other health and community-based organizations to achieve health justice measures.
Justice and Public Policy
The center will engage in innovative research to understand and develop cutting-edge solutions to address inequities within the justice systems in Utah and the Intermountain region. Additionally and collaboratively, the center’s production of public policy discussions and briefs will be formed based on research and activities within the three identified pillars. We envision an array of qualitative, quantitative, and interpretive/historical reports and policy briefs that examine and aim to remedy racialized and health disparities in areas such as educational outcomes, substance abuse, suicide ideation, civic engagement, human dignity belonging, environmental racism, and suggested public and private interventions. All policy briefs and opinions posted on the website or statements at any sponsored event that the center may host are the opinions of that group or individual and not the expressed opinion of the Center for Research on Race, Health Justice, and Public Policy or the University of Utah.