Across the US, more than 1,400 community health centers provide primary care services to underserved communities that might not otherwise have access to care. These health centers have also adopted various approaches to further reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care, including monitoring control of blood pressure in hypertension, control of blood sugar in diabetes, and low birthweight by race/ethnicity.

Part 1: What prompted the establishment of health canters in the United States? Part 2: What qualitative and quantitative health policy research methods can be used to examine whether health centers are being effective in achieving their purpose to reduce or eliminate health disparities?

Part 3: Design and present an outline of a study that utilizes survey research approach to examine whether health centers are able to reduce or eliminate health disparities (i.e., differences in access, quality, and health outcomes) across racial or ethnic and socioeconomic subpopulations.