By applying innovative economic analysis, health promotion tools can be used more effectively to understand: (i) individual behavioral responses to these tools, and (ii) the value associated with these tools. We propose to do this by creating a Chicago Center of Excellence in Health Promotion Economics, building on the University of Chicago's groundbreaking economics research tradition, and enriched by a well-structured partnership with the University of Illinois School of Public Health (UI SPH) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Our Scientific Aims are: (1) To develop and apply economic methods to advance knowledge about the role of economic factors in health behaviors; (2) To develop and apply economic methods to advance knowledge about the value of health promotion initiatives; (3) To develop and apply economic methods to advance knowledge about health disparities-namely, their determinants and potential strategies to eliminate them-across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic dimensions. These scientific aims will be realized through a series of specific aims organized within the context of three cores: an administrative core, an economics core, and a disparities and neighborhoods core. The administrative core will support the effective use of Center resources for research and training, outreach to critical partners (especially including the UI SPH and IDPH), linkage with community constituents, and the dissemination of Center findings. The economics core will support the primary scientific focus of the Center, namely: (i) to develop and apply economic methods to advance knowledge about the role of economic factors in health behaviors; and (ii) to develop and apply economic methods to advance knowledge about the value of health promotion initiatives. The disparities and neighborhoods core will support our third Scientific Aim by studying health disparities by race and socioeconomic status, with a special emphasis on their relation to community and neighborhood factors.
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