The Medical Progress: Study to assess the impact of a multi-component intervention in reducing racial health disparities

From the Medical Progress: In an unprecedented effort to address the harmful effects of structural racism on health, 60 predominantly Black neighborhoods in Philadelphia will be part of an ambitious study to assess the impact of a multi-component intervention addressing both environmental and economic injustice on health and well-being, led by Penn Medicine researchers Eugenia C. South, MD, MHSP, and Atheendar Venkataramani, MD, PhD. At the community level, the study includes tree planting, vacant lot greening, trash cleanup, and rehabilitation of dilapidated, abandoned houses. For households, the study will help connect participants to local, state, and federal social and economic benefits, including food, unemployment, and prescription drug assistance, provide financial counseling and tax preparation services, and offer emergency cash assistance. This randomized controlled trial (RCT), is funded by a nearly $10 million dollar grant (1-U01OD033246-01) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), awarded to researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania through the NIH Common Fund’s Transformative Research to Address Health Disparities and Advance Health Equity initiative, the NIH announced 11 grants totaling $58 million over five years for highly innovative health disparities research across the U.S. Read the full story in The Medical Progress.