Our health disparities research program dates back to a seminal 1968 project funded by the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, in which Kaiser Permanente Northwest worked with nearly 50 neighborhood health centers in underserved areas. In addition, the Office of Economic Opportunity’s focus on providing dental care to low-income families led KPNW to become one of the first health systems in the nation to offer comprehensive dental coverage.
Today, we pursue research on health disparities both within the Kaiser Permanente health plan and in many community settings, including federally qualified health centers and other rural and community health clinics in several states. We conduct this work in collaboration with partners including OCHIN (formerly the Oregon Community Health Information Network), the Oregon Rural Practice Based Research Network (ORPRN), community care organizations (CCOs) throughout Oregon and Washington, and the Oregon Health Authority.
CHR’s program of research on health disparities is greatly strengthened by the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of our study populations, our commitment to culturally competent recruitment and retention strategies, and our use of flexible and adaptive methodology and study designs to meet the needs of high priority populations.
By viewing public health through a health equity lens, we can address key questions about how different population groups experience illness, disease, medications, treatments, and health care delivery itself, and how interventions can improve health amongst those who can benefit the most.