Creating the Healthcare Racial Justice Assessment Tool (HC-RJAT): A Novel Tool to Identify Modifiable Loci of...

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Health Equity
• Social Determinants of Health

Background:

• Racial and ethnic health inequities are widespread in the US healthcare system.
• These inequities result from multi-level racism (institutional, structural, interpersonal, internalized), not biological differences.
• Current interventions often focus on individual-level racism, proving ineffective in closing the equity gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the lack of tools for targeting structural and institutional racism in healthcare.
• To report the development of a novel assessment tool for identifying racism within healthcare settings.
• To guide the development of equity-focused interventions by pinpointing modifiable targets of racism.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Healthcare Racial Justice Assessment Tool (HC-RJAT).
• The tool is specifically designed to identify targets for intervention at the structural and institutional levels of racism within healthcare.
• Focus on creating a healthcare-specific instrument.

Main Results:

• The Healthcare Racial Justice Assessment Tool (HC-RJAT) has been developed.
• The tool is designed to identify specific, modifiable points where structural and institutional racism manifest in healthcare.
• This provides a pathway for targeted, equity-focused interventions.

Conclusions:

• Existing interventions for health inequities are insufficient due to their focus on individual-level racism.
• The HC-RJAT offers a novel approach to identify and address structural and institutional racism in healthcare.
• This tool is crucial for guiding effective, equity-focused interventions to close the health equity gap.