Efforts to reduce widespread disparities in medical care and health in the United States face unprecedented legal challenges. Recent court rulings and political developments endanger myriad programs seeking health equity and inclusion. Yet, opportunities to advance health justice abound at all levels of government. Equity in health care provision, workforce diversity, responsiveness to racial and other social marginalization, and proactive efforts to incorporate health into environmental and economic policy are fundamental, indeed urgent.
To this end, the Urban Institute and the Georgetown University Law Center have launched a research initiative to identify opportunities to advance equity in health and medical care.
Research Directions
Directions the project is currently pursuing include the advancement of educational and workforce diversity within the limits of the law, development of legal tools for improving quality of care and addressing patients’ health-harming life circumstances, use of environmental policy to support urban health, and incorporation of health concerns into juvenile justice. We aim to provide lawyers and judges, health-system leaders, clinicians, policymakers, and community representatives with data and analysis they’ll need to take the initiative in these realms.
Resources
Levers for Advancing Clinical Quality and Equity
Webinar: Health Care Institutions, Hippocratic Duty, and Immigration Enforcement
M. Gregg Bloche
Ethics and Health Systems Change: Introduction
M. Gregg Bloche
The Persistent Public Health Emergency
Yael Zakai Cannon
Case and Commentary: How Is Access to Legal Resources and Advocacy Foundational to Health Justice?
Yael Zakai Cannon
Environmental Policy and Health Disparities
Co-Cities: Innovative Transitions toward Just and Self-Sustaining Communities
Sheila R. Foster and Christian Iaione
Juvenile Justice and Policing
The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth
Kristin Henning
Resource list updated regularly.
