U.S. Health Research and Information

Welcome to the Health Disparities guide.

Health disparities can be defined as, “preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations.” (Community Health and Program Services (CHAPS): Health Disparities among Racial/Ethnic Populations. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2008).

Health equity is the framework where people, regardless of socioeconomic status, can receive the highest quality of health care. 

U.S. Government Data

Below is a list of non-governmental resources that have some US government-produced data. 

• End of Term Web Archive

  Coordinated efforts started in 2008 to preserve a copy of U.S. government websites at the end of a presidential term.

• Internet Archive

• DataLumos

  ICPSR's open access archive that accepts deposits of US government data

• PolicyMap This link opens in a new window

  A US-National web-based Geographic Information System used to understand communities, for those who need to visualize large amounts of data quickly and easily, often down to the census tract or block group level.

• IPUMS

  Including IPUMS DHS and IPUMS Global Health

• USAID MOMENTUM Project 2017-2020 Archived Content

• CDC Datasets (Internet Archive)

  CDC Datasets uploaded to Internet Archive before January 28th, 2025

• Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (Archived)

  Unofficial copy of the CEJST archived by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI)

See also: Missing US Government Data

• AHRQ News
• Academy Health Blog
• AMIA Podcasts
• Center on Health Insurance Reforms: Georgetown University
• Following the ACA: Health Affairs
• Health Affairs Forefront
• Healthcare Policy Podcast
• Health Policy and Reform: NEJM
• The Incidental Economist: the Health Services Research Blog
• Kaiser Family Foundation
• KHN (Kaiser Health News)
• Milbank Quarterly in Conversation
• New York Times: Healthcare Reform
• Politico Pulse
• Stories About: NPR
• To the Point: Commonwealth Fund

Health Disparities

"Despite prevention efforts, some groups of people are affected by HIV, viral hepatitis, STDs, and TB more than other groups of people. The occurrence of these diseases at greater levels among certain population groups more than among others is often referred to as a health disparity. Differences may occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education, income, disability, geographic location and sexual orientation among others. Social determinants of health like poverty, unequal access to health care, lack of education, stigma, and racism are linked to health disparities."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, September 14). Defining health disparities. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/disparities/index.htm 

Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, a physician and activist, talks about how you can name and address racism. In the video below, Dr Jones tells four allegories on the affects of racism in medicine and how to move to action.