Dr. Amanda McCoy has been awarded a grant from the CHP Scientific Program to study health equity in pediatric orthopaedics. Though most of pediatric orthopaedic surgery literature has focused on pathophysiology, morphology, and intervention, recently, there has been interest in investigating health care equity. Recent studies have detailed decreased access and poorer health outcomes for Black children in need of orthopedic care. However, these studies have not been designed to adequately differentiate between the effects of child race, socioeconomic status, and geography. With a large volume of outpatient visits and procedures performed by the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and with known health inequities in other conditions and outcomes in our region, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has an opportunity to become a leader in pediatric orthopedic health equity and health services research. The proposed research program will take crucial first steps in identification and measurement, investigating and differentiating between the effects of race, racism, unequal resource allocation, and neighborhood segregation on child health outcomes among specific pediatric orthopedic disease. These findings will, in turn, support intervention development and provide crucial preliminary data to support future grant submissions to further the needed work to develop and implement strategies to promote more equitable access to needed orthopedic surgical care among children.
Congratulations, Dr. McCoy!