PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Even after controlling for factors such as insurance coverage and socioeconomic status, significant racial and ethnic inequalities persist in U.S. health care. That's why Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change is actively studying, developing and implementing strategies to reduce racial and ethnic gaps in care.

Want to learn how people and organizations are jump-starting efforts to reduce disparities in care in 2013? Finding Answers will offer daily links to resources that can help your project gain momentum this year.

Follow @FndgAnswers in January and receive a month of tips, tools and updates on the latest developments in disparities research, ACA implementation as it relates to disparities, and easy-to-adapt intervention models. The resources to be highlighted include:

• The Roadmap to Reduce Disparities
  www.solvingdisparities.org/news/announcements/roadmap-infographic
  The road to reducing disparities can be long and winding. That's why Finding Answers developed a six-step framework to help people and organizations keep on track. Now available in a simple graphic that's easy to distribute—or tack up above your desk—the Roadmap can help you fit reducing disparities into all health care quality improvement efforts.
• The FAIR Database
  www.solvingdisparities.org/fair
  Need the research on what's worked to reduce disparities? Need it sorted by health topic or strategy? Finding Answers' FAIR database is the most comprehensive collection of summaries and systematic reviews of racial and ethnic health disparities intervention literature available anywhere. Search by health topic (for instance: asthma, diabetes) or by strategy (for instance: pay for performance, nurse-led interventions).

These resources will be of interest to anyone reporting on or working in the field of health equity.

Expert commentary on research about improving equity in U.S. health care is available from Marshall Chin, the Richard Parrillo Family Professor of Healthcare Ethics in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago and director of the Finding Answers program (www.solvingdisparities.org).

Background:

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable, and timely change. For 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. Follow the Foundation on Twitter (www.rwjf.org/twitter) or Facebook (www.rwjf.org/facebook).

About Finding Answers

Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change is a national program focused on discovering and evaluating innovative interventions to move the disparities field beyond the documentation of racial and ethnic differences in health care toward implementing efforts to eliminate these gaps in care. Finding Answers' work includes a six-step process that organizations can use to address disparities, recommendations for the kinds of interventions that work to reduce disparities, and systematic reviews of the disparities-reduction literature. For more information, visit www.solvingdisparities.org.

SOURCE Robert Wood Johnson Foundation