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Mayo researchers, minority communities team up to combat COVID-19 health disparities

May 18, 2020

Mark Wieland, M.D., a community internal medicine physician at Mayo Clinic and the first author on the study says that the pandemic has amplified existing health inequities. 

"We know that racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionality impacted with chronic diseases and that these same communities tend to have higher COVID-19 infection and death rates," says Dr. Wieland.

These disparities are driven by social determinants of health, such as socioeconomic position, immigration status, and limited English language proficiency as well as other factors, he says. 

To find solutions to these complex problems, it's crucial for academic researchers and community stakeholders to work together as equal partners and to leverage existing partnerships, says Irene Sia, M.D., an infectious disease physician at Mayo Clinic, and the study's senior author.

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Mark Wieland