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Articles by Alonzo Plough
Save public health data to save American lives
Data-driven, reality-based health science saves lives. Without it, we could not protect people from disease, cure them when they’re sick, or ensure that the places where they live promote good health. In America today, however, an anti-facts movement is eroding the data needed to protect lives.
Global Learnings on Health Equity and Well-Being
Having recently returned to the United States from the Health Equity of the Americas conference in Costa Rica, where I literally crossed borders to participate in cross-border learning, this feels like a good time to reflect on what’s been shared and learned throughout . The trip also got me thinking more about the learning journey I’ve been on with colleagues at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) exploring the role of well-being in advancing health equity (more on that later).
Beyond Borders: In-Depth Series
Good ideas have no borders. Yet, a 2023 survey by Candid found that 66 percent of US funders’ grantmaking is not informed or inspired by global ideas. Around the world—from Australia to Rwanda, from Bogota to New Zealand, and from Sweden to South Africa—countries have made progress tackling the same kind of problems the United States and other nations struggle with, ranging from maternal health to structural racism.
Health Systems Need to Transform Data Collection to Advance Health Equity
Population Health ManagementAhead of Print Free Access At a medical conference in 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King poignantly stated that “of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.”1 More than 56 years later, America is confronting the most profound health injustices in modern history: the human toll of a pandemic, which unfairly and disproportionately impacts communities of color and other...
It’s Time for a Reckoning in the Field of Health Equity Research
My 25 years of experience in public health have made it clear: it’s time for new thinking, investments, practices, and approaches in research if a healthier and more equitable future is to be possible for all. I was born at a time when Black families were denied care in most hospitals. In my hometown of Kansas City, my mother gave birth to me at the Frederick Douglass Hospital, the first Black hospital West of the Mississippi and the only place my family could go for medical care.
Different Risks, One Crisis
Another summer has gone by and with it more record-breaking weather events. Fueled by a changing climate this summer saw worsening droughts, extreme heat and wildfires. And the catastrophic destruction caused by Hurricanes Fiona and Ian will force communities in Puerto Rico and Florida to undergo a long recovery process.
Big Data | Vol 10, No S1
Big Data Editor-in-Chief: Zoran Obradovic, PhD ISSN: 2167-6461 Online ISSN: 2167-647X Published BimonthlyCurrent Volume: 10 Impact Factor: 4.426* *2020 Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2021) The leading peer-reviewed journal covering the challenges and opportunities in collecting, analyzing, and disseminating vast amounts of data.
Equity-Centered Public Health Data Demands New Voices At The Table
We must learn a key lesson from this pandemic: The systemic exclusion of marginalized communities from health, economic, and social advancements is inextricably linked to our nation’s consistent failure to achieve greater health equity for all. While many complex factors contributed to the brutal toll of COVID-19, America’s broken health data system—built on unconnected, aggregated, and time-lagged information—actually amplified structural racism and discrimination.
Lessons for the Opioid Crisis-Integrating Social Determinants of Health Into Clinical Care
Overdose deaths accelerated with the emergence of COVID-19, and this acceleration was fastest among Black, Latinx, and Native Americans, whose overdose rates had already increased before COVID-19.1,2 COVID-19 led to limits on access to medications for opioid use disorder and harm-reduction services, exacerbating low treatment and retention rates,3–5 in the face of toxic drug supplies laced with high-potency synthetic opioids.6 Disproportionate deaths from substance use disorders (SUDs) and...
Three Ways to Advance Health Equity Through Research
Learn about how we’re working to strengthen the evidence base that can guide our nation toward a more equitable future—and a funding opportunity for early-career researchers to join us. The pandemic and this past year’s racial reckoning have given us a decisive moment. We have an opportunity to build a movement for positive change and collective healing. Part of the national awakening is recognizing the urgency to improve public health and advance equity.
New Commission To Tackle How National Health Data Are Collected, Shared, And Used
COVID-19 has shown us once again that wealth, racism, and privilege play an outsized role in how long and how well people live. Philanthropy has long sought to address the confluence of factors that drive these inequities, but many of us who spend our lives focused on health and equity were surprised by the dearth and limited quality of the data we’ve had to track those most affected by the pandemic.
Nations Pursuing a Well-Being Approach (SSIR)
Well-Being: Expanding the Definition of Progress Alonzo Plough 288 pages, Oxford University Press, 2020 Buy the book » As communities work aggressively to stop the spread of COVID-19 and look toward recovery, it is vital that resulting policies and practices do more than bolster economies and pursue economic indicators of progress. Our rebuilding approaches must also ensure racial equity and well-being for all people as both our aim and our metric for success.
The Role Of Racial Justice In Building A Culture Of Health
The social upheaval we’ve seen as thousands of protesters fill our streets is indicative of American culture being challenged. States are passing new laws, cities are considering calls to defund the police, Confederate statues are being removed, and holidays like Juneteenth are being more formally recognized. From the symbolic to the substantive, culture is where lasting change begins, and where it is sustained.
Five Insights From The First Five Years Of Research On Building A Culture of Health
Five years ago, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced a new vision to build a Culture of Health, in which health is a national priority, valued and advanced by collaborators from all sectors. Since then, the Foundation has funded investigator-initiated and solicited research that explores system innovations, policies, laws and regulations, and community dynamics that shape health and well-being in US communities.
Strengthening Integration Of Health Services And Systems
New care delivery models that hold providers more accountable for coordinated, high-quality care and the overall health of their patients have appeared in the US health care system, spurred by recent legislation such as the Affordable Care Act. These models support the integration of health care systems, but maximizing health and well-being for all individuals will require a broader conceptualization of health and more explicit connections between diverse partners.
Measuring What Matters: Using Data To Drive Action
Editor’s note: This article is part of a series of blog posts by leaders in health and health care who participated in Spotlight Health from June 25-28, the opening segment of the Aspen Ideas Festival. This year’s theme was Smart Solutions to the World’s Toughest Challenges. Stayed tuned for more. @alonzoplough we do not have a shortage of data. We have a shortage of action.
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