The Drexel University School of Public Health is proud to announce the recent expansion of its online research content, by making available the work of Dr. Dennis Andrulis, Director of the Center for Health Equality (CHE), regarding the health of America’s cities. The research, entitled The Social and Health Landscape of Urban and Suburban America, is a wide spectrum of reports and related data from 1990 to 2000 that profile the health of the nation’s 100 largest cities and their suburbs.
The studies examine the relationship of key population, socioeconomic and quality-of-life factors with disease and health outcomes in urban and suburban communities. In addition to the published reports, specific city and suburban data and rankings on reported measures are available on the Web site.
The new content is designed to serve as a research resource for those interested in addressing healthcare disparities, such as equal access to healthcare and integrating diverse communities into emergency preparedness planning.
Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the research draws from U.S. Census Bureau data and other federal data sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to provide trends on the health and economic status of urban and suburban America. Data from the American Hospital Association was also analyzed for the most recent report.
Dr. Andrulis first began work on this large-scale project while a research professor at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. After Dr. Andrulis arrived at Drexel in 2005 and inaugurated CHE, the administration of SUNY/DMC graciously granted permission for Dr. Andrulis' findings to be published on Drexel University’s online server.
"We are happy to make these vast resources available to the public," said Dr. Andrulis. "We hope this research will help to spotlight the importance of addressing racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. While the nation has made many strides in recognizing the importance of distinctive individual and community characteristics in public health planning, more must be done to better protect the health and safety of all."
The Center for Health Equality is a collaboration between the Drexel University School of Public Health and the College of Nursing and Health Professions. Founded in 2003, its mission is to partner with community and government to improve the health and well-being of communities through the elimination of health disparities. The Center provides an innovative and exciting program of research and evaluation, networking and collaboration, education and practice built around a commitment to social justice and human rights.
Special thanks are due to CHE intern Andrew Diamond, without whose many hours of dedicated work, this project would not have been completed.