Social & Cultural Disparities

We study disparities faced by underserved and minority populations.

Disparities are differences between one group of people – often a social or cultural minority – versus the population at large.

Some disparities are gaps in service quality or access, such as in health care or education. Others result from those gaps, such as the disparities in health outcomes or educational attainment.

Kent State nursing researchers are investigating the social and cultural influences of inequity on health care and education, as well as the effectiveness of interventions such as cultural competency education for healthcare providers.

Affiliated Faculty

• Tracey Motter, DNP, RN
  Focus: Diversity of the nursing student population and transition-to-practice for new graduates.
• Ya-Fen Wang, Ph.D., RN
  Focus: Eating styles among children and their families and how they relate to overweight and obese children in order to make appropriate inferences to address health disparities.

Recent Publications

Motter, T., Burhanna, T., & Metheney, J. (January 31, 2024). The poverty simulation: A tool to experience the social determinants of health. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 29(1). doi.10.3912/OJIN.Vol29No01Man05 

Crook, J. M., Yoon, S. J. L., Grundmann, O., Horgas, A., & Johnson-Mallard, V. (2023). Subclinical vitamin C plasma levels associated with increased risk of CAD diagnosis via inflammation: Results from the NHANES 2003–2006 surveys. Nutrients, 15(3):584. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15030584   

Berg, K. A., Ishler, K. J., Lytle, S., Kaplan, R., Wang, F., Olgac, T., Miner, S., Edguer, M. N., & Biegel, D. E. (2023). “Don't promise something you can't deliver”: Caregivers' advice for improving services to adolescents and young adults with autism. Autism Research and Treatment, 2023:6597554. doi.10.1155/2023/6597554 

Distelhorst, K. S., Hansen, D. M. (2022). Neighborhood matters for transitional care and heart failure hospital readmission in older adults. Geriatric Nursing, 47, 183-190. doi.10.1016/j.gerinurse.2022.07.014      

Dyal, B. W., Uscanga, Z. L., Bailey, Z., Schmit, S., Hoehn, A., Garcia, J., Gwede, C. K., Brownstein, N., Powell-Roach, K., Johnson-Mallard, V., & Krieger, J. L. (2022). Developing the Florida Academic Cancer Center Alliance Health Disparities Common Measure: The Florida Health and Ancestry Survey. Cancer Control, 29, 10732748221110897. doi:10.1177/10732748221110897

Staras, S., Kastrinos, A. L., Wollney, E., Desai, S., O’Neal, L. J., Johnson-Mallard, V., & Bylund, C. L. (2022). Differences in stakeholder-reported barriers and implementation strategies between counties with high and low HPV vaccine initiation rates: A mixed methods study. Implementation Science Communications, 3(1), 95. doi:10.1186/s43058-022-00341-y