Where a person lives shouldn’t determine how long or how well they live. Unfortunately, in many communities, there are persistent barriers to health and opportunity to thrive. All communities should have conditions that enable people to live the healthiest life possible, such as access to healthy food, quality schools, stable housing, good jobs with fair pay, and safe places to exercise and play. Research in this area focuses on cross-sector strategies that make healthy choices available, culturally-relevant, affordable, and equitable.

Research & Publications See all

March 2025

Applying Racial and Health Equity Impact Assessment for Better Policy Making

Addressing structural racism requires structural solutions. Racial and/or health equity impact assessments (R/HEIAs) help predict how a proposed policy, action, budget, or decision is likely to create, worsen, prevent, or reduce racial inequities. R/HEIAs are similar to fiscal notes or environmental impact assessments except that they focus on racial inequities. They analyze how a proposed More

January 2025

Beyond Food Assistance: A Scoping Review Examining Associations of Nonfood Social Safety Net Programs in the United States With Food Insecurity and Nutrition Outcomes

This scoping review aims to summarize the state of the evidence on associations between participation in nonfood social safety net programs (eg, income assistance, housing assistance) in the United States and food- and nutrition insecurity–related outcomes. Six databases were systematically searched for peer-reviewed articles. Included articles (n = 65) reported on studies that examined 10 unique social More

November 2024

Understanding Family Financial and Emotional Well-being During the Pandemic

This study focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic-related experiences of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic families with young children (birth to age 5) and low incomes. Families with low incomes were overrepresented among the unemployed populations in most U.S. metropolitan areas, and a higher percentage of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic workers with low incomes were displaced for More

November 2024

How Emergency Rental Assistance Might Protect Households With Children From Food Insufficiency

The COVID-19 pandemic took a severe toll on the U.S. economy as the public health crisis triggered steep job losses, business and school closures, supply backlogs, and rising inflation and rent. Households with low incomes were already rent-burdened before the pandemic and the pandemic’s economic fallout further exacerbated existing conditions. Higher rent and income loss More