Health Disparities in Sports and Exercise Medicine

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R13 · $50,000 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY: The mission of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) is to be the pre-eminent organization for primary care sports medicine in the United States. In the past five years, the AMSSM Collaborative Research Network (CRN) has developed and hosted two research summits in order to highlight research needs, best practices and resources on pertinent topics in sports medicine to their membership. These summits have been central to creating and fostering collaborative research within AMSSM, educating AMSSM members on important topics that have research gaps in sports medicine and highlighting opportunities for members to engage in meaningful research. Tangible outcomes from these summits included peer-reviewed manuscripts, national and international presentations on summit conclusions, and creation of collaborative research groups. In April 2023, the AMSSM CRN, housed at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, plans to host a research summit focused on justice, equity and diversity in sports medicine. Health disparities have been identified across geographic areas, socioeconomic groups and among many other groups in the United States. They are observed in all areas of health care and include gaps in access to health care, health care utilization, health outcomes and rates of morbidity and mortality. These disparities reduce life expectancy and quality of life for members of underserved and underrepresented groups in the United States. Efforts to understand and address these health disparities have not been prioritized, particularly in the field of sports and exercise medicine (SEM), and there is little published literature focusing on this area. Recent efforts within SEM have been made to identify and better understand the impact of health disparities in this space. However, elimination of health disparities in SEM will require improved understanding about the causes of health disparities in addition to multifaceted and sustained approaches for health promotion, disease prevention and delivery of appropriate care for a diverse population. This research conference will be held as a pre-conference to the AMSSM’s annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The conference will focus on providing evidence-based approaches and recommendations for research topics and methodologies in SEM that have historically been understudied; it will also allow for thoughtful interaction and solution-oriented discussion from multiple participants representing diverse backgrounds via numerous panel sessions and break-out groups. The research conference aims to attract over 150 multi-disciplinary individuals, and results will be disseminated through academic journals, websites, social media postings, podcasts, and annual meetings of each organization and representative—as well as through marketing channels of key community groups. At the conclusion of the conference, writing groups will synthesize the dialogues and discussions and finalize their research...

Key facts

NIH application ID
10609303
Project number
1R13MD018272-01
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
Principal Investigator
Stephanie Kliethermes
Activity code
R13
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2022
Award amount
$50,000
Award type
1
Project period
2022-09-27 → 2024-08-31