A Multi-level Approach to Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities: Expanding the Racialized-Gendered Social Determinants of Health Model

• In Event: 343 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 21. Race, Class, Gender Intersectionality and Health

Abstract

Pervasive racial and ethnic disparities in health produce cumulative health disadvantages for many minority groups. Understanding why racial and ethnic statuses influence health and well being requires fully engaging the dynamic meanings that race and ethnicity hold for the individuals who embody them as well as for communities and institutions more broadly. However, race and ethnicity are often treated as synonymous and static categories by quantitative health researchers, despite decades of evidence from race and ethnicity scholars that highlight their differences and fluidity. The goal of this paper is to examine how quantitative health researchers can better incorporate complex understandings of race and ethnicity in a U.S. context using existing survey data. I expand on the racialized-gendered social determinants of health model developed by Nancy López, which emphasizes the multilevel nature of racial and ethnic statuses and their interactions with gender and social class. This framework can assist health researchers in unpacking the health implications of racialized systems and institutions as well as racial and ethnic identities. I argue that López’s theoretical models can be implemented at three stages of quantitative research: formulation of research questions, variable selection, and interpretation of results. I conclude by suggesting how quantitative health researchers can apply a more complex framework to current definitions of race and ethnicity found in many health surveys.

Author

• Emily Steiner, University of Colorado-Boulder