SPR PREVENTION SCIENCE'S ROLE IN REDUCING DISPARITIES AND PROMOTING EQUITY TASK FORCE, ROUNDTABLE

In response to the SPR Strategic Plan, the SPR Diversity Network Committee was charged with establishing a task force, with a first task of developing a statement on contemporary issues and approaches in the application of prevention science for reducing health disparities and inequities, and to improve health equity. The roundtable co-chairs of this SPR Disparities-Equity Task Force will present a statement on emerging issues and approaches. This roundtable will serve as a forum for conducting an engaging discussion of issues and approaches, and for eliciting views and suggestions from the SPR members who are in attendance. Historically, racial/ethnic minority populations, and other vulnerable populations, have experienced chronic patterns of social inequity and injustice. These adverse conditions have contributed to disproportionate rates of disease and disorder, which are now described as health disparities. Prevention scientists have developed several effective evidence-based interventions (EBIs) from the application of scientific theories, empirically-based techniques, and practical knowledge, that are capable of reducing or eliminating many health disparities. However, subgroup analyses have not been routinely conducted to assess the impact of these interventions on reducing health disparities. Further, efforts at widespread dissemination and implementation of these EBIs provide the potential for understanding their effects on health equity and disparities. However, this work has met with at least four major challenges that include the need to: (a) increase the adoption of these EBIs in diverse communities, (b) increase engagement by key stakeholders and members of these communities, (c) improve EBI sustainability for continued utilization to attain population-level impact, and (d) monitor the impact of EBI dissemination on health equity and disparities. These challenges can be addressed in part by the systematic adaptation of an original EBI in ongoing quality improvement efforts to resolve these challenges. Resolving these challenges will also require new systemic and multi-level intervention approaches that render original EBIs more culturally relevant, and responsive to the needs of diverse health disparity populations. This roundtable will examine these and other challenges and opportunities facing the field of prevention science in the quest to improve, disseminate, and implement these EBIs and to move the needle on health disparities. The members of this SPR Disparities-Equity Task Force will serve as discussants. The co-chairs will also elicit ideas and perspectives from SPR members who attend this roundtable. A major aim is to receive input: (a) on taskforce directions; (b) on methods to increase routine assessments of the health equity impact of preventive interventions; and (c) on increasing innovative, science-based, and culturally relevant approaches for applying prevention science towards reducing and eliminating health disparities and inequities.