The Center of Excellence in Eliminating Health Disparities (CEED) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is a crucial resource to advance our research and outreach activities addressing minority health and health disparities. This National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Revision Application to Support Environmental Health Disparities Research (RFA-MD-11-008) is a timely response designed to expand health disparity research by integrating a broadly defined environmental health disparity perspective to the existing UIC CEED framework. The research project objective is to explore mechanisms explaining racial differences in exposure to environmental hazards and access to care, and in health outcomes. To achieve this objective, we will compile relevant neighborhood level data on environmental hazards and access to care in Cook County, and link them to other social determinants data that are compiled in the data repository. We will use three approaches to examine the associations. First, we will examine the effect of racial residential segregation on the physical and social environment variables (the presence of environmental hazards and access to health care facilities). Second, we will examine incidence and late stage diagnosis of breast, cervical, and lung cancer in relation to environmental risk factors. Third, to examine changes in environmental conditions on health outcomes, we will explore the effect of changes in racial composition and SES between 2000 and 2010 (relocation of racial/ethnic minorities who moved from inner city Chicago to suburban Cook County). The Environmental Core will operate in collaboration with the other Core groups, to maximize the environmental health disparities research capacity of the UIC CEED. Data generated from this project will be deposited into the Data Core and made available to collaborating local health disparities researchers and community advocates.
Racially segregated and disadvantaged communities are more likely to be exposed to environmental risks. Chicago has been one of the most racially segregated cities in the nation, and racial disparities in Chicago have widened over the past decades. Careful evaluation of interactions between environmental risk factors, fundamental social characteristics, and health outcomes will contribute to better understanding of environmental health disparities.
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