Beyond Boundaries

The need for metrics to measure progress on racial equity in global public health and medicine

Over the past two decades, networked improvement communities (NICs) have become popular for their collaborative, evidence-based approaches to enduring educational challenges. However, traditional improvement science has had inconsistent focus and efficacy in working on issues of racial equity. This study examines the integration of equity into improvement science through the case of the STEM PUSH Network, an NSF-funded alliance aimed at increasing racial and ethnic equity in STEM postsecondary enrollment and persistence. The STEM PUSH Network consists of 40 precollege STEM programs that strive to increase participation of Black, Latine, and Indigenous students in STEM undergraduate pathways. This paper tells the developmental story of how the network has embedded equity into its improvement practices, focusing on professional development in anti-racism and culturally sustaining pedagogy, the adoption of “living” norms, and the restructuring of inquiry cycles to prioritize marginalized voices. Initial results indicate that these efforts have significantly improved the network's equity practice and culture. The network's experiences reveal challenges such as variations in member capabilities while also demonstrating the potential for NICs to effectively incorporate equity into their practice. The STEM PUSH Network's journey offers valuable insights for other improvement networks seeking to prioritize equity, showcasing the necessity and impact of deliberate adjustments in improvement science tools and routines.

As the human race learns to critically evaluate its actions within the earth’s environment more closely, the public demands more knowledge about their personal living environments. Maps provide a clear means of showing the spatial relationships between people and the environment and making this information available in the form of maps through the Internet allows large numbers of people to make decisions about what is around them and how it might affect them. In this study, governmental rules are examined that concern mapping hazardous chemical materials and making those maps accessible to the public. The social issue to consider is what specific information to present and what interaction and analysis tools a cartographer provides to the public. As with all types of maps, the purpose of the map must be addressed. For an Internet map, any sinister intent of the user must also be considered. Issues of public safety must be evaluated when dealing with sensitive information. Public safety officials view knowledge about the location of hazardous chemical materials as both a public benefit and risk. This study will show how current governmental rules can dictate the development of an Internet map regarding hazardous chemicals and that Internet mapping methods can be used that lead to public awareness without increasing the risk to the public of possible terrorist attacks.

Health Systems Need to Transform Data Collection to Advance Health Equity.

Since the Netherlands’ tolerance policy, which allows the purchase of cannabis at ‘coffeeshops’, has been linked to issues of public order and safety, as well as dangers made by drug trafficking organisations, there has been a long debate regarding legalising cannabis production and supply. It was so decided to launch an experiment with a restricted legal (‘closed’) cannabis supply chain for recreational use. This has international implications due to the ongoing illegal cannabis exports from the Netherlands, the importance of sharing knowledge about the effectiveness of cannabis policy, and the accumulation of evidence required to review and revise international treaties. We will detail and discuss the experiment’s background, general approach, and design. In this experiment, ten trusted cannabis growers are contracted to manufacture and supply cannabis to coffeeshops in intervention municipalities, with product quality control, legal enforcement against criminal interference, and preventive measures to decrease health hazards in place. The cannabis supply to coffee cafes in participating control municipalities will remain unchanged. A process study will determine if the chain of production to sale in the intervention towns is indeed closed. In a quasi-experimental study comparing intervention and control communities, the chain’s effects on public health, cannabis-related crime, safety, and public annoyance will be assessed. Earlier experiences with medical cannabis in the United States, as well as limited access and production models in Europe, have provided valuable insights. However, these amendments go far further, introducing a new area of cannabis policy. The absence of empirical knowledge on the effects of such measures presents a problem for policymakers. As a result, establishing future legal changes will require a thorough grasp of the specifics of each country. The literature comparing Colorado’s and the Netherlands’ models is limited. This study is based on a thorough analysis of the policies, regulations, and discussions related to criminal activities common to drug trafficking organizations. The research and analysis presented herein will provide policymakers with a better understanding of the laws and regulations governing legal cannabis in these jurisdictions, as well as highlight some potential impacts and challenges of cannabis reform that require further consideration to ensure public safety and health.

This study examines public safety challenges and collaboration between Barangay Public Safety Officers and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), aiming to enhance police-community partnerships and strengthen public safety measures in the National Capital Region. Using a descriptive-correlational research design, data were collected from 45 barangay public safety officers and 45 NCRPO police officers through questionnaires. The study explored correlations between identified challenges and the effectiveness of public safety measures to propose an improved policy framework. Findings reveal high effectiveness in current public safety measures, supported by excellent police service delivery, strong local executive backing, and robust community partnerships. Respondents, predominantly middle-aged male college graduates, consistently perceived public safety measures positively across demographic categories. However, critical challenges persist in community engagement, organizational support, and policing strategies, reflecting systemic issues common to other regions and departments. A perfect linear correlation was found between these challenges and the effectiveness of public safety measures, underscoring their direct impact on overall performance. The study emphasizes addressing these challenges to enhance public safety outcomes and foster stronger police-community collaborations, providing valuable insights for policy improvements in the NCR

BackgroundAustralia faces a critical shortage of nurses, yet international nursing graduates (INGs) encounter significant barriers to securing employment after graduation. Current policies often prioritize domestic graduates, creating systemic disadvantages for INGs, particularly those on temporary visas. This inequity raises ethical concerns and undermines Australia’s ability to fully utilize its nursing workforce, potentially compromising the quality of healthcare services.AimThis study explores the lived experiences of INGs regarding employment challenges in Australia, critically examining the ethical and equity implications of existing practices.Research Design A qualitative study employing a combined phenomenological and exploratory approach was conducted. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis framework.Participants and Research ContextTwelve international nursing students in their final semester of the Bachelor of Nursing program at two metropolitan universities in Australia participated in semi-structured interviews.Ethical ConsiderationsEthical approval was obtained from the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC-44400) and the University of Technology Sydney (ETH24-10028). Informed consent was obtained from all participants, who were assured of their right to confidentiality and to withdraw from the study at any time.ResultsFive overarching themes emerged: (1) Economic Disparity and Ethical Considerations, (2) Systemic Discrimination and Inequality, (3) Mental Health and Well-being, (4) Policy and Regulatory Barriers, and (5) Lack of Cultural Inclusion and a Sense of (Un)Belongingness.ConclusionsThe findings highlight urgent ethical concerns and equity challenges that demand comprehensive reforms to create a more inclusive and ethically sound environment for INGs in Australia. These reforms necessitate policy changes to address discriminatory practices and visa restrictions, enhanced institutional support to facilitate INGs’ transition into the workforce, and a commitment to cultural competence and inclusion at all levels of the healthcare system. Addressing these systemic barriers is not only a matter of fairness and justice but is also crucial for ensuring a robust and ethically sustainable healthcare workforce in Australia.

The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) represents a paradigm shift in Indian education, as it focuses on equity, inclusiveness, multidisciplinarity, and the integration of digital and lifelong learning. This review examines the role of libraries-including school, academic, and public libraries-in the realisation of the vision of NEP 2020. It explores how these institutions have contributed to the realisation of transformational opportunities, the implementation of successes, the resolution of unresolved issues, and the development of strategic pathways. Academic articles, policy documents, and empirical studies published between 2020 and 2025 were included in the systematic literature review, which was complemented by an analysis of recent case studies on library initiatives implemented under NEP 2020 in urban, rural, and tribal settings in India. NEP 2020 transforms libraries into vibrant centres for knowledge generation, digital literacy, multilingualism, and community engagement. Significant gains include up to a 20 per cent increase in enrolment and digital literacy in urban colleges, broader rural coverage by mobile digital units, and strengthened multidisciplinary and vocational education (supported by hybrid academic libraries). Nevertheless, rural ICT penetration remains at 25–40%, with a lack of funding and uneven staffing as key factors discouraging equitable implementation. International benchmarking indicates alignment with UNESCO/IFLA standards, yet deficiencies in the application of advanced technology persist. There is a need for continued investment in rural digitisation, the training of professional librarians, a national library services framework, and strengthened partnerships between the government and the business sector. Through full empowerment, libraries can become the pulse of NEP 2020, closing socio-economic gaps and helping India advance toward a knowledge-driven, inclusive, and globally competitive future.

Places of worship play important roles as anchor institutions that promote community engagement and motivate political activity. Universities, particularly in urban settings, can also serve as anchor institutions that connect communities. Yet, there is often a gulf between the two, to the detriment of the broader community. In this article, we present the Little Rock Congregations Study (LRCS) as an approach to community engagement with faith-based organizations in an urban setting. This research project, based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, involves an interdisciplinary team focused on understanding and improving the community engagement of congregations in the city of Little Rock since 2012. We present qualitative and quantitative data to illustrate the benefits of our approach, including research results returned to community organizations, greater visibility of the university in the community, student involvement in research and with faith-based organizations, and substantive findings that inform the greater body of knowledge and our own community. Through more than eight years of community-based work on the LRCS we provide six key lessons learned for researchers and students building relationships with religious leaders that can help bridge the gulf between these two key community institutions.

Recent reforms in the Carnegie Foundation classification system and regional accreditation standards have fueled momentum for community engagement in higher education. This study employs a knowledge-flow conceptual framework to identify barriers and facilitators that influence the adoption of an engagement agenda at land-grant and urban research universities. With data drawn from six cases, broad themes related to institutional setting, history, epistemologies, leadership, structures, and boundary-spanning roles of faculty and staff emerged as key levers or inhibitors of community engagement at research universities. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Introduction: The Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC) is a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer partnership led by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The mission of ChicagoCHEC is to advance cancer health equity through meaningful scientific discovery, education, training, and community engagement. The current number of individuals in research and cancer health equity-related careers does not mirror the nation's demographics. While there are several gains in health status among racial and ethnic minority groups, disparities in health status have widened for certain indicators. At the culmination of the eight weeks, Research Fellows learned fundamental research practices and methodologies, pertinent research content topics (e.g., cancer inequity and recruitment of underserved minorities in clinical trials), social contexts for health inequity across the cancer continuum, and critical professional development practices and networks. Methods: Eligible participants were all undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students without graduate education from Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and City Colleges of Chicago. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and entered into RedCap via responses to module evaluations and a baseline survey with questions on self-efficacy in cancer disparity research. We applied modules around overarching core competencies envisioned by the ChicagoCHEC Research Education Core: (1) research practices, (2) research content, (3) social context/ interaction and personal development, and (4) professionalization. We recruited an intentional selected sample of underrepresented minorities to achieve representation across various definitions of “underrepresented” not limited to race/ethnicity, citizenship status, gender identification, sexual orientation, first-generation college student, and more. To achieve a high number of competitive candidates, the Research Education Core, one of four cores of the overarching U54 ChicagoCHEC, utilized existing cross-institutional inventories of student programs and groups, and corresponding recruitment strategies. This included Research Education Core staff collaborative presentations at career fairs, with student organizations, and in classes. The program leveraged the expertise of leading scholars and cancer researchers, health professionals, institutional leadership, and community leaders across Chicago taking part as guest lecturers, project mentors, and site visit hosts. The program served as an opportunity to move the needle on health by expanding opportunities to the next generation in a way that also changes the architecture of collaboration, community engagement, and the culture of research education to address health inequities. Core components of the intervention include individual and personal reflection, group exercises, didactic lecture, and classroom-based, and immersion and hands on experiences. These learning vehicles aimed to advance core values and competencies. Core values include teamwork, mentorship, critical thinking, value alignment, professionalism, intellectual curiosity, social justice, and reflective dialogue. Citation Format: Shaneah Taylor, Melinda Monge. Bridging the gap through a targeted research fellowship: Introduction and recruitment of under-represented minority students to the cancer research physician scientist pipeline [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr C25.

In these years, Biometric technology has passed through its establishment and maintains a good momentum of growth. With the development and reform of social transformation, it seems almost inevitable that the public safety issues have increasingly become a focus. Biometric technology can effectively prevent infringement, obtain the criminal evidence and maintain the public safety. Many standards related to biometric identification in public security area are about to be implemented. Biometric identification will exploit better development opportunities. However, unimodal biometric may not be able to achieve the desired requirement for public security, especially for criminal in the civilian law enforcement environment. It has been found that unimodal biometric shows some inherent drawbacks in universality and accuracy. Hence, this paper proposes the design of multimodal biometric information management system (MBIMS) to create a collaborative platform by acquiring biometric data from multi-commercial systems, defines the data flow API and applies the prototype system successfully in the field of public security.

Introduction We describe a rare food contamination of organically grown frozen green beans with Solanum nigrum, also called black night shade, which were widely available in supermarkets in the Netherlands. Case series To our knowledge, only three adults and one child were referred to the emergency department for observation after eating the contaminated green beans. Only minor symptoms were seen during observation. The remainder of the frozen green beans were obtained from the patients and sent for analysis within one day. Within two and a half days after the first case, a public safety warning and recall were launched. Discussion Due to an increase in popularity of organic food, more incidents involving toxic weed contaminants like the one we describe in this report could happen when quality control in organic agriculture is insufficient. In this event, the critical control point obtained from the hazard analysis was insufficiently managed by the producer. Conclusion This report demonstrates the efficient collaboration between the Dutch Poisons Information Centre, treating physicians at the hospital and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority in case of a possible public safety issue. Because of quick acting and collaboration between the involved parties, the product was quickly withdrawn from the market.

Context:Prevalence of insurance coverage in NYC varies by race and ethnicity: one-quarter (26%) of Latino New Yorkers lack health insurance, compared to 11% of Asian and Pacific Islanders, 11% of non-Latino Blacks, and 8% of non-Latino whites.Program:The Office of Health Insurance Services at the NYC Health Department implemented a tailored racial equity engagement project to identify barriers and opportunities in accessing health care and health insurance among adult Latino and Chinese New Yorkers.Implementation:We conducted 12 community stakeholder interviews and 9 consumer focus groups and used the results to develop a tailored, multilingual, data-driven media campaign in NYC neighborhoods with the highest proportions of uninsured Latino and Chinese New Yorkers. We conducted a social media post-survey to evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness.Evaluation:Stakeholder interviews indicated that cultural beliefs about medicine, insufficient access to services in appropriate languages, and limited awareness of enrollment opportunities impacted health insurance enrollment among Chinese and Latino New Yorkers. Consumer focus groups emphasized that health insurance enrollment media campaigns should focus on culturally salient themes and incorporate community input. Most post-campaign survey respondents (84%) agreed that they and their communities were represented by the implemented campaigns. Survey respondents reacted most positively to images of multigenerational families used in the campaigns.Discussion:Community input is important for public health campaigns focused on specific racial or ethnic groups. Community engagement can help local health departments effectively reach priority populations, ensure that messaging is culturally and linguistically appropriate, and align public health messaging with health equity goals.

This research paper examines the land economic development strategies in South Delhi, focusing on their impact on the socio-economic and spatial dynamics of the region. South Delhi, a diverse and economically vibrant district within the National Capital Region of India, presents a unique case study to explore how tailored land use policies and economic planning can foster sustainable growth. Using a mixed-method approach, this study integrates qualitative analysis of policy documents, stakeholder interviews, and quantitative assessment of economic indicators to analyze land use changes, economic transformations, and policy effectiveness from 2011 to 2021. The analysis spans both macro and micro levels, investigating transformations in key areas like Mehrauli, Lado Sarai, and Aya Nagar. Findings highlight significant shifts in land use from agricultural to residential and commercial purposes, driven by rapid urbanization, infrastructure development, and policy reforms. While certain strategies have effectively promoted economic growth, challenges such as environmental degradation, congestion, uneven policy enforcement, and socio- economic disparities persist. The study underscores the need for sustainable land use planning, improved infrastructure, stakeholder collaboration, and adaptive governance frameworks to balance economic growth with social equity and environmental sustainability The research offers comprehensive insights and practical recommendations for policymakers, urban planners, and stakeholders to optimize land economic development strategies in South Delhi, with implications for similar urban contexts globally. The study advocates for a holistic approach that integrates sustainable development, community engagement, and resilient policy frameworks to create livable and prosperous urban environments. Index Terms— Land Economic Development Strategies,South Delhi, Socio-Economic Dynamics ,Spatial Dynamics, Land Use Policies ,Economic Planning ,Sustainable Growth ,Mixed-Method Approach, Policy Documents, Stakeholder Interviews, Economic Indicators, Land Use Changes, Urbanization, Infrastructure Development ,Policy Reforms Environmental Degradation, Socio- Economic Disparities ,Sustainable Land Use Planning, Stakeholder Collaboration, Adaptive Governance, Urban Environments.