Leveraging research to address health inequities
UF faculty members use a PCORI award to drive patient participation in health disparities research.
Faculty members from the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville are using a highly coveted research award to help address health inequities in Duval County.
The college received a $248,000 award through the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards program, an initiative of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, which is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund comparative effectiveness research that provides patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence needed to make better-informed health and health care decisions.
The funding is going toward developing measures to foster greater patient involvement in health disparities research and participation in the UF Health Urban Health Alliance, a comprehensive resource and community health innovation hub. Read more about the Urban Health Alliance and their mission.
“We are honored to have received this PCORI award, which will aid greatly as we take a multifaceted approach to addressing health disparities in our local community. We seek to have an expansive group of providers, patients and other stakeholders on board and in regular communication with each other about ways to creatively and effectively foster greater health equity,” said Lori Bilello, PhD, MBA, MHS, a research assistant professor and associate director of the Urban Health Alliance.
The PCORI award spans two years. Bilello is leading the project alongside Ross Jones, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of community health and family medicine and medical director of community health.
Project activities include:
- Conducting listening sessions with patients, community members, providers and other stakeholders to identify key barriers to health equity
- Soliciting solutions to improve health equity
- Developing a patient-centered research collaborative
- Recruiting and training community members to serve as citizen scientists
- Creating a health disparities data center to collect and house data and reports generated by UF Health staff and other community members
To participate in a listening session or for more information about the project, contact Bilello at 904.244.9202 or Lori.Bilello@jax.ufl.edu.