Recent Posts

New Book Alert: Researching Health Together

For those looking to understand, design, and implement research collaborations between researchers and community members, patients, and other stakeholders, it can be hard to find detailed information about engagement methods and how they are implemented. But a new book, Researching Health Together: Engaging Patients and Stakeholders, from Topic Identification to Policy Change, was recently published…

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New Report Calls Attention to Excess Deaths in COVID-19 Pandemic

New research from the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University finds that the number of publicly-reported deaths from COVID-19 may be underestimating the pandemic’s actual death toll.  The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that approximately 87,000 more Americans died between March 1, 2020, and April 25,…

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Racism is a human rights and public health crisis

In light of the continued killings of unarmed Black people in the United States–most recently the highly publicized murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery–and the protests that are occurring in our home of Richmond and across the country, the VCU Center on Society and Health wants to reaffirm its condemnation of racism…

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Working-age Americans dying at higher rates, especially in economically hard-hit states

Working-age Americans dying at higher rates, especially in economically hard-hit states A new Center study identifies “a distinctly American phenomenon” as mortality among 25 to 64 year-olds increases and U.S. life expectancy continues to fall. Mortality rates among working-age Americans continue to climb, causing a decrease in U.S. life expectancy that is severely impacting certain…

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Necessary But Not Sufficient: Why Health Care Alone Cannot Improve Population Health and Reduce Inequities

In his recently published editorial for the Annals of Family Medicine, Dr. Steven H. Woolf (Director Emeritus of the Center on Society and Health) discusses several means through which to improve population health, stressing the importance of addressing root causes through cross-sector collaborations. He pays particular attention to the role that health care systems can…

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Center’s Graduate Research Assistant presents in Division of Epidemiology’s Seminar Series

Tierah West, MPH candidate and Research Assistant at the Center on Society and Health, lectured to VCU students, staff, and faculty as part of the Division of Epidemiology’s seminar series on Tuesday, October 30. Her lecture, titled “How to optimize volunteer work to help disadvantaged communities: Community conversations in Richmond, Virginia’s East End neighborhood,” focused on…

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Report Reveals Wide Differences in Health Opportunities Among Metropolitan Washington Neighborhoods

Recent research from the VCU Center on Society and Health found that life expectancy across the metropolitan Washington region varies by as much as 27 years and health can differ drastically within a single county, from neighborhood to neighborhood. The report – Uneven Opportunities: How Conditions for Wellness Vary Across the Metropolitan Washington Region – was commissioned by…

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Student Poster Presentation at VDH Health Equity Conference

Doctoral students Jong Hyung (John) Lee and DaShaunda Taylor presented posters at the VDH Office of Health Equity conference on October 17th. The conference, “Sowing the Seeds of Health Equity: Growing Healthy Connected Communities,” offered an opportunity for students to present their work to the distinguished public health audience in attendance. Both students presented on…

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Acting Center Director Derek Chapman, PhD, Gives Keynote Address at AHA’s National Health Equity Program Learning Lab

Acting Center Director, Derek Chapman, PhD, gave the keynote address to the American Hospital Association (AHA)’s National Health Equity Program kickoff learning lab on September 26th. Dr. Chapman serves as part of the National Advisory Committee for the AHA’s National Health Equity Program, a new initiative funded by the Aetna Foundation working to develop clinical-community…

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VCU Center on Society and Health Research Featured at Atlantic Festival 2018

The VCU Center on Society and Health’s Mapping Life Expectancy Project was featured at the Atlantic Festival 2018 in Washington, DC. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, funder of the Mapping Life Expectancy Project and underwriter for the festival, displayed the center’s life expectancy maps on an interactive screen. Festival attendees could explore the maps outside…

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