About this Research Topic
Minoritized, under-resourced populations have long experienced inequities in the social determinants of health (SDOH) that confer physical and mental health risks, including disparities in health literacy, availability and quality of health resources, access, utilization, rates of symptoms and disorders, and research representation. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting public health measures likely amplified existing SDOH disparities. Additionally, the conceptualization of the SDOH has undergone recent expansions (i.e., racism, race-based trauma, digital exclusion).
For example, the expansion of digital services may inadvertently exclude under-
resourced people in society, due to systemic disadvantages in digital access.
The expansions of traditional SDOH are more inclusive of experiences that
disproportionately affect minoritized, marginalized, and other under-resourced or
vulnerable populations, with the potential of increased explanatory power with respect to health disparities. To achieve mental health equity, research must address these gaps
and identify the pre- and peri-COVID-19 experiences, and their intersection of
minoritized, under-resourced populations that impact mental health. A better
understanding of these factors will enable mental health professionals and policymakers to implement interventions to reduce mental health inequities.
The goal of this research topic is to develop a deeper understanding of COVID-19 related health disparities. It is now evident that the COVID-19 pandemic caused negative shifts in pre-existing mental health disparities due to inequities in their social determinants especially due to digital access, exacerbating disparities in marginalized and under-resourced populations.
We are interested in papers that address the following social determinants:
● Health literacy
● Trust in healthcare systems
● Healthcare access, barriers
● Health utilization
● Quality of health services
● Rates of health symptoms, disorders
● The lived experiences of racialized, under-resourced populations
● Multi-level mechanisms that influence health disparities (e.g., individual-level (i.e., coping, resilience), institutional/systems-level, and policy-level influences on health)
● Racial discrimination and race-based trauma
We welcome investigators to contribute original theoretical, qualitative, integrated mixed-methods, quantitative research, and systematic reviews to further the identification and explanation of mental health disparities, particularly among marginalized and vulnerable populations, those that encompass nontraditional social determinants of mental health (e.g., racism, race-based trauma, homelessness, digital inequities) exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the intersection of nontraditional social determinants and mental health disparities. We especially encourage manuscripts that discuss novel interventions designed to eliminate mental health disparities, document disparities in the social determinants of health, identify barriers to health care access and utilization, and inform public health messages to achieve health equity.
For example, the expansion of digital services may inadvertently exclude under-
resourced people in society, due to systemic disadvantages in digital access.
The expansions of traditional SDOH are more inclusive of experiences that
disproportionately affect minoritized, marginalized, and other under-resourced or
vulnerable populations, with the potential of increased explanatory power with respect to health disparities. To achieve mental health equity, research must address these gaps
and identify the pre- and peri-COVID-19 experiences, and their intersection of
minoritized, under-resourced populations that impact mental health. A better
understanding of these factors will enable mental health professionals and policymakers to implement interventions to reduce mental health inequities.
The goal of this research topic is to develop a deeper understanding of COVID-19 related health disparities. It is now evident that the COVID-19 pandemic caused negative shifts in pre-existing mental health disparities due to inequities in their social determinants especially due to digital access, exacerbating disparities in marginalized and under-resourced populations.
We are interested in papers that address the following social determinants:
● Health literacy
● Trust in healthcare systems
● Healthcare access, barriers
● Health utilization
● Quality of health services
● Rates of health symptoms, disorders
● The lived experiences of racialized, under-resourced populations
● Multi-level mechanisms that influence health disparities (e.g., individual-level (i.e., coping, resilience), institutional/systems-level, and policy-level influences on health)
● Racial discrimination and race-based trauma
We welcome investigators to contribute original theoretical, qualitative, integrated mixed-methods, quantitative research, and systematic reviews to further the identification and explanation of mental health disparities, particularly among marginalized and vulnerable populations, those that encompass nontraditional social determinants of mental health (e.g., racism, race-based trauma, homelessness, digital inequities) exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the intersection of nontraditional social determinants and mental health disparities. We especially encourage manuscripts that discuss novel interventions designed to eliminate mental health disparities, document disparities in the social determinants of health, identify barriers to health care access and utilization, and inform public health messages to achieve health equity.
Keywords: Racial disparities, Social determinants of health, Healthcare provisioning, Mental health professionals, Health disparities, COVID-19 pandemic
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
