News

Bearing a new name and a revised mission, Portland State University's Center for Health and Social Inequality Research plans to bring renewed effort to tackling some of the area's toughest health issues.

The center (formerly the Center for Sociological Research), housed in the Department of Sociology, draws on the unique strengths of Portland State faculty who are focused on promoting and conducting research that will advance understanding of how social institutions and processes can facilitate or impede the health and well-being of the full scope of society.

The center's objectives, working in conjunction with other academic, community, government and nonprofit agencies, are to:
* Identify and explain inequalities in areas such as health, health care delivery, education, employment, housing and social justice;
* Increase understanding of the ways that culture, politics, economics, and religion impact health and health care, education levels, economic status and social well-being;
* Explain the role of social class, family background, ethnicity, gender and age in social inequality;
* Become a resource for health providers, community organizations, public agencies and others
involved in forming and revising social policies.

Sharon Lee, professor of Sociology, has been appointed director for the Center for Health and Social Inequality Research. Her research focuses on social demography-specifically immigration and integration of Asians into the United States-and cultural competency in health and healthcare. She recently completed a project that examined the effects of professional interpreter services on limited English proficient patients' health care use, and conducted an exploratory study of the role of culture in foreign-born Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese women's health beliefs, behavior and experiences. Lee has received funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, National Science Foundation, Oregon Department of Human Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Fulbright Foundation. Much of the research conducted by Department of Sociology faculty illustrates the future direction of the Center. One example is a "Children's Access Study" that Matthew Carlson, assistant professor, Sociology, conducted for the Office of Oregon Health Policy and Research, providing information about why nearly 80,000 eligible Oregon children were not enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan. Results of the study will lead to improving health care access for these children.

Another example of related research is a study assessing the influence of race in care for traumatic injuries, which was conducted by Melanie Arthur, assistant professor, Sociology, with OHSU's Rural Trauma Study Group. Though previous research has found racial disparities in mortality rates resulting from injuries, Arthur's work is investigating the reasons for those differences, comparing African American and white populations.

Through a grant funded by Oregon Sea Grant, José Padín, associate professor, Sociology, is examining data from the coastal cities of Astoria, Lincoln City and Newport to see how rapidly growing Hispanic populations are adapting to those communities, what their needs are, and if and how local employers, educators and community organizations recognize the needs of those new residents.

Background
The National Institute of Health estimates that racial and ethnic minorities will increase from 28 percent of the U.S. population in 1998 to 40 percent by 2030. A recent literature review conducted by the National Institute of Medicine examined several decades of research and concluded that racial and ethnic minorities continue to experience significant disparities in health, health care access, and the receipt of culturally appropriate health services. Racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, Asian and Pacific Americans, Native Americans and Latinos, are less likely to have health insurance and access to preventive and primary care, and are more likely to die of preventable diseases than are non-Hispanic whites. Over the last several decades, there has been a growing recognition that improving the health of vulnerable populations, including racial and ethnic minorities, low income populations, and women and children depends on shifting from an individual to a broader social, economic and political understanding of health. The Center for Health and Social Inequality Research at Portland State University is addressing this need in Oregon by helping to expand the understanding of the causes and consequences of health disparities, and providing policy-relevant research to reduce them.

The Center will collaborate with other PSU units such as the School of Community Health, and area institutions including Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research, OHSU's Department of Public Health and Preventative Medicine, the Center for Health Disparities Research in OHSU's School of Nursing, OSU's Department of Pharmacy, Providence Health Care's Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, OHSU's Oregon Institute of Disabilities and Development, and its Departments of Emergency Medicine and Surgery, Oregon Office of Health Policy and Research, Oregon Office of Medical Assistance Programs, the Oregon Health Research Evaluation Collaborative, and the Office of Multicultural Health, Oregon Department of Human Services.