The purpose of this Special Emphasis Notice (SEN) is to inform the research community of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) strong and continued interest in receiving applications that advance the goal of achieving equity in healthcare delivery in the United States.
AHRQ is committed to supporting healthcare delivery systems and health professionals in their efforts to transform care to be more equitable by producing evidence and supporting the development and testing of measures, interventions, and tools to ensure every person has the opportunity to attain their full potential for health and well-being.
Inequities in health outcomes are deeply rooted in historic injustices that exist across all aspects of society, including the delivery of healthcare. COVID-19 has underscored the link between social determinants and inequities in healthcare and moreover highlighted the central issue of addressing structural and systemic inequities that continue to contribute to avoidable disparities in health outcomes and health care delivery.
This SEN conveys AHRQ’s continued interest in supporting health services research to fill important gaps in scientific evidence through innovative study designs and use of collaborative methods. Applications should demonstrate meaningful engagement with diverse stakeholders and representatives from target communities, ensuring that target patient population voices are heard throughout the research process, and co-creation and co-learning is prioritized.
Inclusion of a conceptual framework is encouraged to demonstrate how research objectives center health equity and focus on addressing health disparities as a foundational element across the application. AHRQ is also interested in applications that propose to use the latest dissemination and implementation science to evaluate evidence-based interventions aimed at advancing health and healthcare equity