Research

Establishing a road map for health equity

HEI is committed to evidence-based solutions and uses research and evaluation strategically to address questions that may inform community-based programs and contribute to a strategic and participatory road map to health equity. Since complex social problems require sophisticated tools, we feel that several questions still need to be addressed and should inform the development of public health and health communication programs and resources for health equity. Through its research efforts, HEI seeks to (1) examine what happened to our social and political commitment to vulnerable and minority populations and (2) isolate key factors that may help enhance or restore this commitment within specific social, professional and community groups. HEI seeks to examine and evaluate the relevance of:

  • Key determinants of behavior, and intermediate steps to behavior adoption and maintenance among different lay (minority, ethnic, vulnerable, cultural, etc.) and professional (healthcare, policy, private, nonprofit, etc.) communities
  • Key capacity building and training needs among public health and health communication professionals and organizations that operate in a variety of community and professional settings, environments (e.g., urban centers), and countries
  • Comparative models for community mobilization and citizen engagement for advocacy and policy development and implementation

HEI’s focus is primarily on applied research or “research for action”. Our significant practice-based experience informs our unique approach to research questions and evidence-based solutions, so that our research efforts are designed to: 1) bridge research and practice; 2) connect results with community needs; and 3) generate valuable interdisciplinary information for our programs, partners, and the overall public health community.

Most importantly, we always keep in mind the perspectives and needs of minority and underserved populations.  We are only interested in applied research so that we can turn knowledge into action, and inform strategies for promoting community, social and policy behaviors that may help advance health equity. Our research studies are designed to complement the feedback and ideas of the communities we engage. We want to break down “health equity” into doable and behavior-specific steps – community-by-community and issue-by-issue. This step-by-step approach is rooted in our strong commitment to behavioral and social results, and requires input by intended communities!

HEI partners with an independent investigational review board – which is fully accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP) – for the review of its research protocols and program evaluation projects. HEI staff, associates and advisors have significant research and evaluation experience in a variety of settings and are committed to participatory research methods.  We are currently developing several research projects in the areas mentioned above.