top research topics in healthcare

77 interesting medical research topics for 2024

Last updated

25 November 2023

Reviewed by

Brittany Ferri, PhD, OTR/L

Medical research is the gateway to improved patient care and expanding our available treatment options. However, finding a relevant and compelling research topic can be challenging.

Use this article as a jumping-off point to select an interesting medical research topic for your next paper or clinical study.

• How to choose a medical research topic

When choosing a research topic , it’s essential to consider a couple of things. What topics interest you? What unanswered questions do you want to address? 

During the decision-making and brainstorming process, here are a few helpful tips to help you pick the right medical research topic:

Focus on a particular field of study

The best medical research is specific to a particular area. Generalized studies are often too broad to produce meaningful results, so we advise picking a specific niche early in the process. 

Maybe a certain topic interests you, or your industry knowledge reveals areas of need.

Look into commonly researched topics

Once you’ve chosen your research field, do some preliminary research. What have other academics done in their papers and projects? 

From this list, you can focus on specific topics that interest you without accidentally creating a copycat project. This groundwork will also help you uncover any literature gaps—those may be beneficial areas for research.

Get curious and ask questions

Now you can get curious. Ask questions that start with why, how, or what. These questions are the starting point of your project design and will act as your guiding light throughout the process. 

For example: 

What impact does pollution have on children’s lung function in inner-city neighborhoods? 

Why is pollution-based asthma on the rise? 

How can we address pollution-induced asthma in young children? 

• 77 medical research topics worth exploring in 2023

Need some research inspiration for your upcoming paper or clinical study? We’ve compiled a list of 77 topical and in-demand medical research ideas. Let’s take a look. 

• Exciting new medical research topics

If you want to study cutting-edge topics, here are some exciting options:

COVID-19 and long COVID symptoms

Since 2020, COVID-19 has been a hot-button topic in medicine, along with the long-term symptoms in those with a history of COVID-19. 

Examples of COVID-19-related research topics worth exploring include:

The long-term impact of COVID-19 on cardiac and respiratory health

COVID-19 vaccination rates

The evolution of COVID-19 symptoms over time

New variants and strains of the COVID-19 virus

Changes in social behavior and public health regulations amid COVID-19

Vaccinations

Finding ways to cure or reduce the disease burden of chronic infectious diseases is a crucial research area. Vaccination is a powerful option and a great topic to research. 

Examples of vaccination-related research topics include:

mRNA vaccines for viral infections

Biomaterial vaccination capabilities

Vaccination rates based on location, ethnicity, or age

Public opinion about vaccination safety 

Artificial tissues fabrication

With the need for donor organs increasing, finding ways to fabricate artificial bioactive tissues (and possibly organs) is a popular research area. 

Examples of artificial tissue-related research topics you can study include:

The viability of artificially printed tissues

Tissue substrate and building block material studies

The ethics and efficacy of artificial tissue creation

• Medical research topics for medical students

For many medical students, research is a big driver for entering healthcare. If you’re a medical student looking for a research topic, here are some great ideas to work from:

Sleep disorders

Poor sleep quality is a growing problem, and it can significantly impact a person’s overall health. 

Examples of sleep disorder-related research topics include:

How stress affects sleep quality

The prevalence and impact of insomnia on patients with mental health conditions

Possible triggers for sleep disorder development

The impact of poor sleep quality on psychological and physical health

How melatonin supplements impact sleep quality

Alzheimer’s and dementia 

Cognitive conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are on the rise worldwide. They currently have no cure. As a result, research about these topics is in high demand. 

Examples of dementia-related research topics you could explore include:

The prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in a chosen population

Early onset symptoms of dementia

Possible triggers or causes of cognitive decline with age

Treatment options for dementia-like conditions

The mental and physical burden of caregiving for patients with dementia

• Lifestyle habits and public health

Modern lifestyles have profoundly impacted the average person’s daily habits, and plenty of interesting topics explore its effects. 

Examples of lifestyle and public health-related research topics include:

The nutritional intake of college students

The impact of chronic work stress on overall health

The rise of upper back and neck pain from laptop use

Prevalence and cause of repetitive strain injuries (RSI)

• Controversial medical research paper topics

Medical research is a hotbed of controversial topics, content, and areas of study. 

If you want to explore a more niche (and attention-grabbing) concept, here are some controversial medical research topics worth looking into:

The benefits and risks of medical cannabis

Depending on where you live, the legalization and use of cannabis for medical conditions is controversial for the general public and healthcare providers.

Examples of medical cannabis-related research topics that might grab your attention include:

The legalization process of medical cannabis

The impact of cannabis use on developmental milestones in youth users

Cannabis and mental health diagnoses

CBD’s impact on chronic pain

Prevalence of cannabis use in young people

The impact of maternal cannabis use on fetal development 

Understanding how THC impacts cognitive function

Human genetics

The Human Genome Project identified, mapped, and sequenced all human DNA genes. Its completion in 2003 opened up a world of exciting and controversial studies in human genetics.

Examples of human genetics-related research topics worth delving into include:

Medical genetics and the incidence of genetic-based health disorders

Behavioral genetics differences between identical twins

Genetic risk factors for neurodegenerative disorders

Machine learning technologies for genetic research

Sexual health studies

Human sexuality and sexual health are important (yet often stigmatized) medical topics that need new research and analysis.

As a diverse field ranging from sexual orientation studies to sexual pathophysiology, examples of sexual health-related research topics include:

The incidence of sexually transmitted infections within a chosen population

Mental health conditions within the LGBTQIA+ community

The impact of untreated sexually transmitted infections

Access to safe sex resources (condoms, dental dams, etc.) in rural areas

• Health and wellness research topics

Human wellness and health are trendy topics in modern medicine as more people are interested in finding natural ways to live healthier lifestyles. 

If this field of study interests you, here are some big topics in the wellness space:

Gluten sensitivity

Gluten allergies and intolerances have risen over the past few decades. If you’re interested in exploring this topic, your options range in severity from mild gastrointestinal symptoms to full-blown anaphylaxis. 

Some examples of gluten sensitivity-related research topics include:

The pathophysiology and incidence of Celiac disease

Early onset symptoms of gluten intolerance

The prevalence of gluten allergies within a set population

Gluten allergies and the incidence of other gastrointestinal health conditions

Pollution and lung health

Living in large urban cities means regular exposure to high levels of pollutants. 

As more people become interested in protecting their lung health, examples of impactful lung health and pollution-related research topics include:

The extent of pollution in densely packed urban areas

The prevalence of pollution-based asthma in a set population

Lung capacity and function in young people

The benefits and risks of steroid therapy for asthma

Pollution risks based on geographical location

Plant-based diets

Plant-based diets like vegan and paleo diets are emerging trends in healthcare due to their limited supporting research. 

If you’re interested in learning more about the potential benefits or risks of holistic, diet-based medicine, examples of plant-based diet research topics to explore include:

Vegan and plant-based diets as part of disease management

Potential risks and benefits of specific plant-based diets

Plant-based diets and their impact on body mass index

The effect of diet and lifestyle on chronic disease management

Health supplements

Supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry. Many health-conscious people take supplements, including vitamins, minerals, herbal medicine, and more. 

Examples of health supplement-related research topics worth investigating include:

Omega-3 fish oil safety and efficacy for cardiac patients

The benefits and risks of regular vitamin D supplementation

Health supplementation regulation and product quality

The impact of social influencer marketing on consumer supplement practices

Analyzing added ingredients in protein powders

• Healthcare research topics

Working within the healthcare industry means you have insider knowledge and opportunity. Maybe you’d like to research the overall system, administration, and inherent biases that disrupt access to quality care. 

While these topics are essential to explore, it is important to note that these studies usually require approval and oversight from an Institutional Review Board (IRB). This ensures the study is ethical and does not harm any subjects. 

For this reason, the IRB sets protocols that require additional planning, so consider this when mapping out your study’s timeline. 

Here are some examples of trending healthcare research areas worth pursuing:

The pros and cons of electronic health records

The rise of electronic healthcare charting and records has forever changed how medical professionals and patients interact with their health data. 

Examples of electronic health record-related research topics include:

The number of medication errors reported during a software switch

Nurse sentiment analysis of electronic charting practices

Ethical and legal studies into encrypting and storing personal health data

Inequities within healthcare access

Many barriers inhibit people from accessing the quality medical care they need. These issues result in health disparities and injustices. 

Examples of research topics about health inequities include:

The impact of social determinants of health in a set population

Early and late-stage cancer stage diagnosis in urban vs. rural populations

Affordability of life-saving medications

Health insurance limitations and their impact on overall health

Diagnostic and treatment rates across ethnicities

People who belong to an ethnic minority are more likely to experience barriers and restrictions when trying to receive quality medical care. This is due to systemic healthcare racism and bias. 

As a result, diagnostic and treatment rates in minority populations are a hot-button field of research. Examples of ethnicity-based research topics include:

Cancer biopsy rates in BIPOC women

The prevalence of diabetes in Indigenous communities

Access inequalities in women’s health preventative screenings

The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension in Black populations

• Pharmaceutical research topics

Large pharmaceutical companies are incredibly interested in investing in research to learn more about potential cures and treatments for diseases. 

If you’re interested in building a career in pharmaceutical research, here are a few examples of in-demand research topics:

Cancer treatment options

Clinical research is in high demand as pharmaceutical companies explore novel cancer treatment options outside of chemotherapy and radiation. 

Examples of cancer treatment-related research topics include:

Stem cell therapy for cancer

Oncogenic gene dysregulation and its impact on disease

Cancer-causing viral agents and their risks

Treatment efficacy based on early vs. late-stage cancer diagnosis

Cancer vaccines and targeted therapies

Immunotherapy for cancer

Pain medication alternatives

Historically, opioid medications were the primary treatment for short- and long-term pain. But, with the opioid epidemic getting worse, the need for alternative pain medications has never been more urgent. 

Examples of pain medication-related research topics include:

Opioid withdrawal symptoms and risks

Early signs of pain medication misuse

Anti-inflammatory medications for pain control

• Identify trends in your medical research with Dovetail

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Research Topics & Ideas: Healthcare

100+ Healthcare Research Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation, thesis or research project. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a healthcare-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of healthcare-related research ideas and topic thought-starters across a range of healthcare fields, including allopathic and alternative medicine, dentistry, physical therapy, optometry, pharmacology and public health.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas within the healthcare domain. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. In it, we cover the process of writing a dissertation or thesis from start to end. Be sure to also sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic.

Overview: Healthcare Research Topics

• Allopathic medicine
• Alternative /complementary medicine
• Veterinary medicine
• Physical therapy/ rehab
• Optometry and ophthalmology
• Pharmacy and pharmacology
• Public health
• Examples of healthcare-related dissertations

Allopathic (Conventional) Medicine

• The effectiveness of telemedicine in remote elderly patient care
• The impact of stress on the immune system of cancer patients
• The effects of a plant-based diet on chronic diseases such as diabetes
• The use of AI in early cancer diagnosis and treatment
• The role of the gut microbiome in mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety
• The efficacy of mindfulness meditation in reducing chronic pain: A systematic review
• The benefits and drawbacks of electronic health records in a developing country
• The effects of environmental pollution on breast milk quality
• The use of personalized medicine in treating genetic disorders
• The impact of social determinants of health on chronic diseases in Asia
• The role of high-intensity interval training in improving cardiovascular health
• The efficacy of using probiotics for gut health in pregnant women
• The impact of poor sleep on the treatment of chronic illnesses
• The role of inflammation in the development of chronic diseases such as lupus
• The effectiveness of physiotherapy in pain control post-surgery

Topics & Ideas: Alternative Medicine

• The benefits of herbal medicine in treating young asthma patients
• The use of acupuncture in treating infertility in women over 40 years of age
• The effectiveness of homoeopathy in treating mental health disorders: A systematic review
• The role of aromatherapy in reducing stress and anxiety post-surgery
• The impact of mindfulness meditation on reducing high blood pressure
• The use of chiropractic therapy in treating back pain of pregnant women
• The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine such as Shun-Qi-Tong-Xie (SQTX) in treating digestive disorders in China
• The impact of yoga on physical and mental health in adolescents
• The benefits of hydrotherapy in treating musculoskeletal disorders such as tendinitis
• The role of Reiki in promoting healing and relaxation post birth
• The effectiveness of naturopathy in treating skin conditions such as eczema
• The use of deep tissue massage therapy in reducing chronic pain in amputees
• The impact of tai chi on the treatment of anxiety and depression
• The benefits of reflexology in treating stress, anxiety and chronic fatigue
• The role of acupuncture in the prophylactic management of headaches and migraines

Topics & Ideas: Dentistry

• The impact of sugar consumption on the oral health of infants
• The use of digital dentistry in improving patient care: A systematic review
• The efficacy of orthodontic treatments in correcting bite problems in adults
• The role of dental hygiene in preventing gum disease in patients with dental bridges
• The impact of smoking on oral health and tobacco cessation support from UK dentists
• The benefits of dental implants in restoring missing teeth in adolescents
• The use of lasers in dental procedures such as root canals
• The efficacy of root canal treatment using high-frequency electric pulses in saving infected teeth
• The role of fluoride in promoting remineralization and slowing down demineralization
• The impact of stress-induced reflux on oral health
• The benefits of dental crowns in restoring damaged teeth in elderly patients
• The use of sedation dentistry in managing dental anxiety in children
• The efficacy of teeth whitening treatments in improving dental aesthetics in patients with braces
• The role of orthodontic appliances in improving well-being
• The impact of periodontal disease on overall health and chronic illnesses

Tops & Ideas: Veterinary Medicine

• The impact of nutrition on broiler chicken production
• The role of vaccines in disease prevention in horses
• The importance of parasite control in animal health in piggeries
• The impact of animal behaviour on welfare in the dairy industry
• The effects of environmental pollution on the health of cattle
• The role of veterinary technology such as MRI in animal care
• The importance of pain management in post-surgery health outcomes
• The impact of genetics on animal health and disease in layer chickens
• The effectiveness of alternative therapies in veterinary medicine: A systematic review
• The role of veterinary medicine in public health: A case study of the COVID-19 pandemic
• The impact of climate change on animal health and infectious diseases in animals
• The importance of animal welfare in veterinary medicine and sustainable agriculture
• The effects of the human-animal bond on canine health
• The role of veterinary medicine in conservation efforts: A case study of Rhinoceros poaching in Africa
• The impact of veterinary research of new vaccines on animal health

Topics & Ideas: Physical Therapy/Rehab

• The efficacy of aquatic therapy in improving joint mobility and strength in polio patients
• The impact of telerehabilitation on patient outcomes in Germany
• The effect of kinesiotaping on reducing knee pain and improving function in individuals with chronic pain
• A comparison of manual therapy and yoga exercise therapy in the management of low back pain
• The use of wearable technology in physical rehabilitation and the impact on patient adherence to a rehabilitation plan
• The impact of mindfulness-based interventions in physical therapy in adolescents
• The effects of resistance training on individuals with Parkinson’s disease
• The role of hydrotherapy in the management of fibromyalgia
• The impact of cognitive-behavioural therapy in physical rehabilitation for individuals with chronic pain
• The use of virtual reality in physical rehabilitation of sports injuries
• The effects of electrical stimulation on muscle function and strength in athletes
• The role of physical therapy in the management of stroke recovery: A systematic review
• The impact of pilates on mental health in individuals with depression
• The use of thermal modalities in physical therapy and its effectiveness in reducing pain and inflammation
• The effect of strength training on balance and gait in elderly patients

Topics & Ideas: Optometry & Opthalmology

• The impact of screen time on the vision and ocular health of children under the age of 5
• The effects of blue light exposure from digital devices on ocular health
• The role of dietary interventions, such as the intake of whole grains, in the management of age-related macular degeneration
• The use of telemedicine in optometry and ophthalmology in the UK
• The impact of myopia control interventions on African American children’s vision
• The use of contact lenses in the management of dry eye syndrome: different treatment options
• The effects of visual rehabilitation in individuals with traumatic brain injury
• The role of low vision rehabilitation in individuals with age-related vision loss: challenges and solutions
• The impact of environmental air pollution on ocular health
• The effectiveness of orthokeratology in myopia control compared to contact lenses
• The role of dietary supplements, such as omega-3 fatty acids, in ocular health
• The effects of ultraviolet radiation exposure from tanning beds on ocular health
• The impact of computer vision syndrome on long-term visual function
• The use of novel diagnostic tools in optometry and ophthalmology in developing countries
• The effects of virtual reality on visual perception and ocular health: an examination of dry eye syndrome and neurologic symptoms

Topics & Ideas: Pharmacy & Pharmacology

• The impact of medication adherence on patient outcomes in cystic fibrosis
• The use of personalized medicine in the management of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease
• The effects of pharmacogenomics on drug response and toxicity in cancer patients
• The role of pharmacists in the management of chronic pain in primary care
• The impact of drug-drug interactions on patient mental health outcomes
• The use of telepharmacy in healthcare: Present status and future potential
• The effects of herbal and dietary supplements on drug efficacy and toxicity
• The role of pharmacists in the management of type 1 diabetes
• The impact of medication errors on patient outcomes and satisfaction
• The use of technology in medication management in the USA
• The effects of smoking on drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics: A case study of clozapine
• Leveraging the role of pharmacists in preventing and managing opioid use disorder
• The impact of the opioid epidemic on public health in a developing country
• The use of biosimilars in the management of the skin condition psoriasis
• The effects of the Affordable Care Act on medication utilization and patient outcomes in African Americans

Topics & Ideas: Public Health

• The impact of the built environment and urbanisation on physical activity and obesity
• The effects of food insecurity on health outcomes in Zimbabwe
• The role of community-based participatory research in addressing health disparities
• The impact of social determinants of health, such as racism, on population health
• The effects of heat waves on public health
• The role of telehealth in addressing healthcare access and equity in South America
• The impact of gun violence on public health in South Africa
• The effects of chlorofluorocarbons air pollution on respiratory health
• The role of public health interventions in reducing health disparities in the USA
• The impact of the United States Affordable Care Act on access to healthcare and health outcomes
• The effects of water insecurity on health outcomes in the Middle East
• The role of community health workers in addressing healthcare access and equity in low-income countries
• The impact of mass incarceration on public health and behavioural health of a community
• The effects of floods on public health and healthcare systems
• The role of social media in public health communication and behaviour change in adolescents

Examples: Healthcare Dissertation & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a healthcare-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various healthcare-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• Improving Follow-Up Care for Homeless Populations in North County San Diego (Sanchez, 2021)
• On the Incentives of Medicare’s Hospital Reimbursement and an Examination of Exchangeability (Elzinga, 2016)
• Managing the healthcare crisis: the career narratives of nurses (Krueger, 2021)
• Methods for preventing central line-associated bloodstream infection in pediatric haematology-oncology patients: A systematic literature review (Balkan, 2020)
• Farms in Healthcare: Enhancing Knowledge, Sharing, and Collaboration (Garramone, 2019)
• When machine learning meets healthcare: towards knowledge incorporation in multimodal healthcare analytics (Yuan, 2020)
• Integrated behavioural healthcare: The future of rural mental health (Fox, 2019)
• Healthcare service use patterns among autistic adults: A systematic review with narrative synthesis (Gilmore, 2021)
• Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Combatting Burnout and Compassionate Fatigue among Mental Health Caregivers (Lundquist, 2022)
• Transgender and gender-diverse people’s perceptions of gender-inclusive healthcare access and associated hope for the future (Wille, 2021)
• Efficient Neural Network Synthesis and Its Application in Smart Healthcare (Hassantabar, 2022)
• The Experience of Female Veterans and Health-Seeking Behaviors (Switzer, 2022)
• Machine learning applications towards risk prediction and cost forecasting in healthcare (Singh, 2022)
• Does Variation in the Nursing Home Inspection Process Explain Disparity in Regulatory Outcomes? (Fox, 2020)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. This is an important thing to keep in mind as you develop your own research topic. That is to say, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Need more help?

If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your healthcare dissertation or thesis, check out Topic Kickstarter service below.

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15 Comments

I need topics that will match the Msc program am running in healthcare research please

Hello Mabel,

I can help you with a good topic, kindly provide your email let’s have a good discussion on this.

Can you provide some research topics and ideas on Immunology?

Thank you to create new knowledge on research problem verse research topic

Help on problem statement on teen pregnancy

This post might be useful: https://gradcoach.com/research-problem-statement/

can you provide me with a research topic on healthcare related topics to a qqi level 5 student

Please can someone help me with research topics in public health ?

Hello I have requirement of Health related latest research issue/topics for my social media speeches. If possible pls share health issues , diagnosis, treatment.

I would like a topic thought around first-line support for Gender-Based Violence for survivors or one related to prevention of Gender-Based Violence

Please can I be helped with a master’s research topic in either chemical pathology or hematology or immunology? thanks

Can u please provide me with a research topic on occupational health and safety at the health sector

Good day kindly help provide me with Ph.D. Public health topics on Reproductive and Maternal Health, interventional studies on Health Education

may you assist me with a good easy healthcare administration study topic

May you assist me in finding a research topic on nutrition,physical activity and obesity. On the impact on children

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Nih research matters.

December 22, 2020

2020 Research Highlights — Promising Medical Findings

Results with potential for enhancing human health.

With NIH support, scientists across the United States and around the world conduct wide-ranging research to discover ways to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. Groundbreaking NIH-funded research often receives top scientific honors. In 2020, these honors included one of NIH’s own scientists and another NIH-supported scientist who received Nobel Prizes . Here’s just a small sample of the NIH-supported research accomplishments in 2020.

Full 2020 NIH Research Highlights List

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New approaches to COVID-19

As the global pandemic unfolded, researchers worked at unprecedented speed to develop new treatments and vaccines. Scientists  studied antibodies from the blood of people who recovered from COVID-19 and identified potent, diverse ones that neutralize SARS-CoV-2 . Some antibody treatments have now been given emergency use authorization by the FDA, with many others in development . However, such antibodies—called monoclonal antibodies—are difficult to produce and must be given intravenously. NIH-researchers have been pursuing other approaches, including using antibodies from llamas , which are only about a quarter of the size of a typical human antibody and could be delivered directly to the lungs using an inhaler. Computer-designed “miniproteins” and other antiviral compounds are also under investigation.

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Universal mosquito vaccine tested

Most mosquito bites are harmless. But some mosquitoes carry pathogens, like bacteria and viruses, that can be deadly. A small trial showed that a vaccine against mosquito saliva—designed to provide broad protection against mosquito-borne diseases—is safe and causes a strong immune response in healthy volunteers. More studies are needed to test its effectiveness against specific diseases.

20201006-knee-stock.jpg

Machine learning detects early signs of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis. It results when cartilage, the tissue that cushions the ends of the bones, breaks down. People with osteoarthritis can have joint pain, stiffness, and swelling. Some develop serious pain and disability from the disease. Using artificial intelligence and MRI scans, scientists identified signs of osteoarthritis three years before diagnosis. The results suggest a way to identify people who may benefit from early interventions.

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Advances in restoring vision

Several common eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, damage the retina, the light-sensitive tissue in the eye. They can eventually lead to vision loss. Two studies looked at ways to restore vision in mouse models. Researchers reprogrammed skin cells into light-sensing eye cells that restored sight in mice. The technique may lead to new approaches for modeling and treating eye diseases. Other scientists restored vision in blind mice by using gene therapy to add a novel light-sensing protein to cells in the retina. The therapy will soon be tested in people.

20200107-aging.jpg

Blood protein signatures change across lifespan

The bloodstream touches all the tissues of the body. Because of the constant flow of proteins through the body, some blood tests measure specific proteins to help diagnose diseases. Researchers determined that the levels of nearly 400 proteins in the blood can be used to determine people’s age and relative health. More research is needed to understand if these protein signatures could help identify people at greater risk of age-related diseases.

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Understanding HIV’s molecular mechanisms

More than a million people nationwide are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. HIV attacks the immune system by destroying immune cells vital for fighting infection. Researchers uncovered key steps in HIV replication by reconstituting and watching events unfold outside the cell. The system may be useful for future studies of these early stages in the HIV life cycle. In other work, experimental treatments in animal models of HIV led to the viruses emerging from their hiding places inside certain cells—a first step needed to make HIV vulnerable to the immune system.

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Test distinguishes Parkinson’s disease from related condition

A protein called alpha-synuclein plays a major role in Parkinson’s disease as well as other brain disorders. Early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and another disease involving alpha-synuclein, multiple system atrophy, can be similar. Researchers created a test using cerebrospinal fluid that can distinguish between these two diseases with 95% accuracy. The results have implications for the early diagnosis and treatment of these conditions and may help in the development of new targeted therapies.

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Understanding allergic reactions to skin care products

Personal care products like makeup, skin cream, and fragrances commonly cause rashes called allergic contact dermatitis. It’s not well understood how chemical compounds in personal care products trigger such allergic reactions. Scientists gained new insight into how personal care products may cause immune responses that lead to allergic responses in some people. Understanding how compounds in these products trigger immune reactions could lead to new ways to prevent or treat allergic contact dermatitis.

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• Health Care

5 studies released in 2022 that might change how you think about health care

From racial bias in CPR to private equity price hikes, here’s what researchers learned about US health care this year.

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Share All sharing options for: 5 studies released in 2022 that might change how you think about health care

Though the pandemic and all its attendant health care crises remained the major health care story of 2022, churning all the while in the background has been the critical work of academic scholars, operating on longer timelines, who are still trying to make sense of US health care and of medicine itself, to get a better idea of what’s wrong and how to make it better.

To wrap up this year, I asked a couple dozen health policy experts what research released this year (though, as one of them reminded me, these papers are often years in the making) had surprised them, changed their thinking, or struck them as especially notable.

Here are five particularly interesting papers, at least in my view. Because many more than that warrant mention, I have tried to cram in as many references to other work as I could. One of my lessons from this exercise was that there are noteworthy new studies being produced all the time. The US health system certainly merits such extensive investigation, given the number and diversity of its flaws .

These studies cover a broad range of subjects, from the intricacies of Medicaid provider networks to prescription uptake by Medicare beneficiaries to how bystanders react when a person experiences a cardiac episode in public. But first, on the topic of the pandemic...

1) Vaccination education campaigns in nursing homes didn’t make much difference

Several experts pointed me to data sets related to Covid-19 vaccination in nursing homes, the scenes of so much illness and death in that frightening first year of the pandemic. Larry Levitt, executive vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, flagged one recent KFF survey that found less than half of nursing-home residents are up to date on their vaccines.

That put into sharp relief the findings of a study that Harvard Medical School’s David Grabowski cited as one of his favorites of the year. The paper, published in JAMA Internal Medicine in January 2022 , evaluated an effort to use educational campaigns and other incentives to improve vaccination rates among residents and staff in nursing homes.

They did not find a meaningful effect, despite three months of programming. There was plenty of room to grow, particularly among the staff, roughly half of whom were unvaccinated during the study period. (Vaccination rates among residents were already high at the time, though the experiment still did not find a significant effect of the multi-faceted campaign.)

“The conventional wisdom was that a big part of lagging vaccination rates was a lack of information and knowledge about the benefits of vaccination,” Grabowski said. But this study found instead that “these educational efforts were unsuccessful at encouraging greater vaccination. Although information campaigns sound like great policy, they really aren’t.”

He lamented that the study had been ignored by policymakers, noting federal efforts to increase vaccination rates among this population remain focused on education. Grabowski said the policies with the strongest evidence are vaccine clinics and vaccine mandates for staff.

2) Medicaid’s “phantom” networks may overstate patients’ access to health care

I love good jargon, and “ghost physicians” is one of my favorite new phrases of the year, which was recently brought to my attention by Harvard University professor (and former Vox contributor) Adrianna McIntyre.

It comes from this May 2022 Health Affairs paper , authored by Yale University’s Avital Ludomirsky and colleagues, which evaluated the provider networks of Medicaid managed-care plans. Those are privately administrated plans for low-income people that must follow state and federal Medicaid rules; they have grown in enrollment in recent years, with more states deciding to outsource their role in providing health coverage for the most vulnerable.

One of those rules is that enough doctors and hospitals accept those Medicaid plans, otherwise known as network adequacy. The Health Affairs study examined managed-care plans in four states over several years to get a better sense of providers’ participation in the program.

Their most striking finding is that while nominal participation was fairly high, about one-third of providers who technically accepted Medicaid actually saw less than 10 Medicaid beneficiaries in a given year. The responsibility for providing care to these patients was concentrated among a small number of practices, with 25 percent of primary care doctors providing 86 percent of the care and 25 percent of specialists providing 75 percent of those services.

In other words, while plenty of doctors might say they accept the plans, people who are enrolled in them may in practice find they have relatively few doctors to choose from. “Our findings suggest that current network adequacy standards might not reflect actual access,” the authors wrote in their conclusion. “New methods are needed that account for beneficiaries’ preferences and physicians’ willingness to serve Medicaid patients.”

The move toward more Medicaid-managed care has spurred a lot of debate and study. Matthew Fiedler, senior fellow at the Brooking Institution, sent me a Harvard study with its own surprising finding: In Texas, transitioning Medicaid enrollees to managed care had actually led to an increase in the use of prescription drugs and outpatient services, while the number of avoidable hospitalizations fell.

What seems to have happened, Fiedler said, is the state had been “penny-wise, pound-foolish” when running the program itself by imposing an unusually strict cap on the number of prescriptions patients could fill in a year. With that cap relaxed under the managed-care plans, patients filled more prescriptions and that corresponded to fewer episodes in which they ended up in the hospital when they didn’t have to.

Fiedler thought the study could also have implications for Medicare Advantage as well, another version of a government health insurance program that is being administered by private companies.

“To be clear, in many of these cases, it might well be better to fix this problem by just fixing the public program directly,” he told me. “But given that we often seem unwilling to do that, this does point to one very real advantage of involvement from private plans.”

3) Many Medicare beneficiaries don’t fill important prescriptions

Rachel Sachs, who studies prescription drug policy at Washington University in St. Louis, highlighted a study on a similar subject that was published in Health Affairs in April 2022 , led by Vanderbilt University’s Stacie Dusetzina. The researchers studied the difference in prescription uptake by Medicare beneficiaries who receive a government subsidy to offset their drug costs versus those who do not.

The latter group, who can sometimes be on the hook for hundreds of dollars for every prescription they fill, was substantially less likely to actually use their medication as it had been prescribed, even for serious diagnoses like cancer. People receiving subsidies were twice as likely to fill their prescriptions. The study found that 30 percent of prescriptions for anti-cancer drugs and 22 of prescriptions for hepatitis-C treatment were never started.

The problem of drug affordability for Medicare patients has been an ongoing concern. Because of how the program is currently structured, beneficiaries who are enrolled in the traditional Medicare program but do not qualify for subsidies have no upper limit on how much they can be asked to spend on pharmaceuticals in a given year.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act , Congress is instituting such a cap for the first time, using savings from the new drug pricing controls also included in the law, capping out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 starting in 2025. That is the kind of intervention the Health Affairs authors were calling for when they published the paper. Now we’ll see if that policy change has an effect on seniors actually taking their medicine.

4) Black and Hispanic Americans are less likely to receive CPR in public spaces

One of the experts I asked for input is Harvard Medical School’s Michael Barnett , who publishes his own overview of the year’s best research every year on Twitter. He sent me a few studies, most of which I’ll let him share in his own overview, but one study in particular stuck out, looking at which people are more (or less) likely to get assistance when they have a health emergency in a public setting with other people around.

The paper, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in October by a collection of scholars across the country, examined more than 100,000 incidents of cardiac arrest that occurred outside of the hospital from 2013 to 2019. They focused in particular on whether the person experiencing cardiac arrest in public received CPR from a bystander.

The results were profound: Black and Hispanic people were significantly less likely to be given CPR than a white person, 45 percent versus 60 percent. And this pattern held across neighborhoods of different racial and socioeconomic make-ups. Whether the neighborhood was predominantly white, Black, or Hispanic, up and down the income ladder, in integrated neighborhoods, white people were more likely to receive CPR than someone who is Black and Hispanic.

“Racial and ethnic differences in bystander CPR in public locations raise additional concerns about implicit and explicit biases in layperson response to out-of-hospital cardiac arrests,” the authors wrote.

Racism within the medical system is well established. Black and Hispanic Americans tend to have less access to health care. They tend to have worse experiences with doctors. Clinical trials and other research does not prioritize them. Medical treatments tend to be developed and designed with white people in mind.

But this study would suggest that even the more casual forms of racism and internalized bias can have a real health effect for marginalized Americans.

5) Prices go up after private equity acquires a physician’s practice

Private equity’s deeper investment into US health care is one of the most important ongoing stories in the field right now. The stakes can be life or death, as one paper that I covered last year about mortality rates in nursing homes purchased by private equity firms found. (Of note this year, according to Harvard’s Amitabh Chandra, was another paper that documented the wide disparities in outcomes among nursing homes, even those who are located in the same area.)

A report published by scholars from Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Oregon Science & Health University in September 2022 in JAMA Health Forum , which Emma Sandoe of North Carolina Medicaid and Duke University shared with me, examined what happened to costs and care utilization when private equity firms had purchased outpatient practices specializing in ophthalmology, dermatology, and gastroenterology, some of their favorite targets.

The study detected several effects: The cost of individual services went up and those practices were seeing more new patients and also charging more time for their existing patients. The amount billed by the private equity-acquired offices per service increased by 20 percent compared to the study’s control group. They saw 38 percent more new patients and there was a 9 percent increase in the number of existing patient visits that were billed as lasting longer than 30 minutes.

On the surface, that could look like partially good news, in spite of the price hikes, with more patients being seen and spending more time with their doctor. But some of the other findings call into question the value of those increases in service volume. In dermatology, the increase in outpatient visits did not correspond to an increase in biopsies ordered. In the gastroenterology practices, there were more visits and scopes but no notable increase in polyp removals. And likewise, at the eye clinics, there was more diagnostic imaging but not any effect on actual cataract removals.

The authors ended their paper with this warning. “Private equity ownership of physician practices has added a distinctly private and market-driven influence to the broader trends in corporate consolidation of physicians by health systems and insurers,” they wrote. “This study contributes evidence for potential overutilization and higher spending on care that will be important for policy makers to monitor.”

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More From Forbes

The 10 Biggest Trends Revolutionizing Healthcare In 2024

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A longer-living population, the emergence of transformative technologies with applications across the healthcare spectrum, and continued global economic uncertainty. These are the key societal drivers that will impact healthcare in 2024.

Their convergence means we are heading into uncharted waters. On the technology side, artificial intelligence (AI) promises to dramatically change everything from the way we develop medicine and treat patients to the business and commercial side of healthcare. Its emergence is the driving force behind many of the trends outlined below.

And just as powerful will be the changes that are being made to shift the focus from reactive to preventive care in the hope of preventing an aging population from becoming an overwhelming burden on healthcare systems around the world.

With these factors in mind, here's my overview of what I believe will be the most prominent trends in 2024.

Generative AI In Healthcare

AI will be instrumental in many of the trends here, but generative AI, in particular, will be particularly impactful over the next 12 months. It will democratize access to other transformative AI applications, making it easier to implement and interpret results and generate personalized recommendations. It will create synthetic data that can be used to train medical AI algorithms without compromising patient privacy or where there simply isn't enough relevant real-world data. And it can create chatbots and virtual assistants to help at every stage of the patient journey. The applications of generative AI in healthcare are practically limitless, and we'll certainly be returning to it as we discuss the other trends on this list.

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Personalized Medicine

At a high level, this term refers to the creation of tailored treatment plans for individual patients. In practice, this is increasingly being done with technology and data. The most advanced applications are in genomics, where AI is being used to analyze patients' DNA to diagnose and treat diseases and to create medicines that are personalized to specific people down to the molecular level (sometimes called precision medicine ). Many researchers believe that a personalized approach to healthcare leads to better patient outcomes and more efficient use of medical resources and will play an increasingly important role in addressing the healthcare challenges of the future.

Virtual Healthcare Assistants

Virtual assistants and chatbots can help clinicians by providing advice on treatments, diagnoses, and medications. They can also help patients by answering questions about their care and connecting them with the information they need to make more informed decisions about their own care. Increasingly, they will interface with electronic health record systems and be used to book and schedule appointments. They can also help patients stay compliant by reminding them to take medications or exercise. They can even provide companionship for patients who live alone or in remote areas to improve their mental health!

Digital Twins

A digital twin is a virtual model of a real-world system, object, place, tool, or process. It can be used to simulate anything from a single device, such as a needle, to understand how it works in different conditions to an entire hospital to understand how services are delivered. Digital twins of the human body and individual organs have been developed to model the effects of changes in treatment, medication and lifestyle choices. Perhaps the most complex digital twin currently imaginable is a twin of the human brain , which researchers hope to advance by 2024.

IoT-Powered Virtual Hospitals And Telemedicine 2.0

This trend includes both telemedicine and wearable devices connected to the global network known as the Internet of Things (IoT). By using connected devices to remotely monitor patients and provide communication channels for healthcare professionals, more elements of care can be delivered remotely. We call this "telemedicine 2.0" because it goes beyond the simple delivery of remote care, such as remote consultations, to a holistic approach to remote patient care and treatment. Virtual hospital wards are an example of this trend in action in 2024 - where a central location acts as a hub for monitoring multiple patients in their own homes.

Preventative Healthcare

This covers many topics, including exercise, wellness, and immunizations, but it all boils down to the old adage that prevention is better than cure. This shift from reactive to proactive approaches will be a strategic priority for healthcare providers in 2024. Research has shown that it can create long-term benefits for patients, as well as reduce the costs associated with treating preventable conditions. Technological advances, including AI and wearable technology, will also play a major role here, enabling early warning and rapid intervention.

Virtual And Augmented Reality In Healthcare

The use of virtual reality (VR) in healthcare is beginning to take off, with several innovative use cases now entering the mainstream. In particular, it has been shown to be effective in helping patients manage long-term chronic pain . It has been shown to be more effective and cause fewer side effects than traditional pharmaceutical pain management, leading to improved quality of life for patients and reduced hospital stays. Meanwhile, augmented reality (AR) is increasingly being used by surgeons to provide digital information as they work without the need to look at separate screens. Another application is wound care management, where it enables non-invasive assessment of the severity, healing status, and best treatment options for a patient's wound.

8 Elderly Care

Many developed nations have aging populations, which will inevitably put increasing pressure on healthcare systems as people live longer and require more support in later life. Innovative solutions that enable the elderly to remain in their own homes for longer, rather than taking up space in hospitals, hospices and nursing homes, will come to the fore. There will also be an increased focus on developing new treatments for diseases that occur specifically in old age and put a strain on care systems such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Other trends discussed here, including preventative care, virtual hospitals and healthcare assistants, will also have important implications.

3D Printing - From Implements To Organs

Additive manufacturing - where products are constructed using processes such as 3D printing - has a major impact on healthcare. In parts of the world where medical equipment is hard to come by, it can be used to print tools and devices on demand, including surgical instruments, orthopedic or dental implants, and prosthetics. Research is also underway into the viability of 3D-printed organs for transplant using biological tissue taken from the patient's body. If proven effective, this could provide a solution to the chronic shortage of organs available for transplant and dramatically reduce the cost of these procedures.

Convergence Of Mental and Physical Healthcare Delivery

For most of the history of medicine, mental and physical health care have been relatively siloed. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed that, as providers increasingly recognize the intrinsic links between physical and mental well-being and the need for a holistic approach. Examples of this in action in 2024 will include frontline healthcare providers, such as primary care physicians, increasingly screening for ways in which mental health issues may impact the treatment and recovery of physical ailments.

You can read more about these topics in my books , The Future Internet: How the Metaverse, Web 3.0, and Blockchain Will Transform Business and Society , Future Skills: The 20 Skills And Competencies Everyone Needs To Succeed In A Digital World and Business Trends in Practice , which won the 2022 Business Book of the Year award. And don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on X (Twitter ), LinkedIn , and YouTube for more on the future trends in business and technology.

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The following Research Topics are led by experts in their field and contribute to the scientific understanding of public-health. These Research topics are published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Public Health , as open access articles .

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Effective allocation and utilization of resources are fundamental to achieving optimal public health outcomes. Health economics provides valuable insights into how financial resources are allocated across different healthcare sectors and their subseq...

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Conference Facilitates Talk on Hot Topics in Health Policy and Management

From artificial intelligence to alternative medicine and quality care to communications: the annual Health Policy and Management (HPM) Healthcare Conference was a sounding board for ideas on all manner of timely issues affecting organizational leaders, policymakers, and not least, everyone at the receiving end of health care services.  The all-day event on April 12 brought together faculty, students, policymakers, and industry leaders. The event was sponsored by The Commonwealth Fund and held at Columbia University event space The Forum.

Sherry Glied, Dean of New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and former HPM chair, opened the conference with a keynote address on the future of healthcare in New York State and beyond. Glied, who chairs the New York State Commission of the Future of Healthcare, said her goal was to recommit the state to measuring success through “the health and well-being of individual people.”

A morning panel titled  Communicating Topics in Public Health Effectively  shed light on strategies to convey health information to the public despite the challenging political environment. HPM Professor Robert Shepardson moderated the panel, which included White House Assistant Press Secretary Kevin Munoz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Planning and Speechwriter for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Brian Reich, and Environmental Health Sciences Professor Julie Herbstman . When asked why communications is important, Herbstman, who is director of Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health noted, “I love working with data, but the reason I’m doing public health research is so that it goes somewhere, it has some kind of impact. My job isn’t done when I publish a paper.”

Afternoon sessions covered topics including food justice, developments in alternative medicine, PEPFAR reauthorization, and a lunch salon focused on digital health. The latter discussion was led by HPM student Andera Marx, senior marketing manager at Amazon Health Services and senior product marketing manager at One Medical.

The closing panel considered the deployment of AI in healthcare and what that could mean for equitable access to services. Columbia Mailman Biostatistics Professor and Associate Dean for Data Science Jeff Goldsmith moderated the event, which included panelists Julia Iyasere, director of the Dalio Center of Health Justice; Ashley Beecy, medical director of AI Operations at NewYork-Presbyterian; and physician-strategist Rebecca Winkour.

The day concluded with a networking reception and panel for admitted students led by current master’s students. Amey Kamdar, MHA ’24, appreciated how the conference brought together providers, researchers, policymakers, and students, adding, “That made for great dialogue and broadening of horizons.” HPM Chair and Professor of Health Policy and Management Michael Sparer echoed Kamdar’s comments, saying, “This is a special day where we come together once a year and we hear great talks, but we also have an opportunity to network and be with each other.”

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• Black Americans Have a Clear Vision for Reducing Racism but Little Hope It Will Happen

Many say key U.S. institutions should be rebuilt to ensure fair treatment

Table of contents.

• Black Americans see little improvement in their lives despite increased national attention to racial issues
• Few Black adults expect equality for Black people in the U.S.
• Black adults say racism and police brutality are extremely big problems for Black people in the U.S.
• Personal experiences with discrimination are widespread among Black Americans
• Black adults see voting as the most effective strategy for moving toward equality in the U.S.
• Some Black adults see Black businesses and communities as effective remedies for inequality
• Black Americans say race matters little when choosing political allies
• The legacy of slavery affects Black Americans today
• Most Black adults agree the descendants of enslaved people should be repaid
• The types of repayment Black adults think would be most helpful
• Responsibility for reparations and the likelihood repayment will occur
• Black adults say the criminal justice system needs to be completely rebuilt
• Black adults say political, economic and health care systems need major changes to ensure fair treatment
• Most Black adults say funding for police departments should stay the same or increase
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix: Supplemental tables
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand the nuances among Black people on issues of racial inequality and social change in the United States. This in-depth survey explores differences among Black Americans in their views on the social status of the Black population in the U.S.; their assessments of racial inequality; their visions for institutional and social change; and their outlook on the chances that these improvements will be made. The analysis is the latest in the Center’s series of in-depth surveys of public opinion among Black Americans (read the first, “ Faith Among Black Americans ” and “ Race Is Central to Identity for Black Americans and Affects How They Connect With Each Other ”).

The online survey of 3,912 Black U.S. adults was conducted Oct. 4-17, 2021. Black U.S. adults include those who are single-race, non-Hispanic Black Americans; multiracial non-Hispanic Black Americans; and adults who indicate they are Black and Hispanic. The survey includes 1,025 Black adults on Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP) and 2,887 Black adults on Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel. Respondents on both panels are recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses.

Recruiting panelists by phone or mail ensures that nearly all U.S. Black adults have a chance of selection. This gives us confidence that any sample can represent the whole population (see our Methods 101 explainer on random sampling). Here are the questions used for the survey of Black adults, along with its responses and methodology .

The terms “Black Americans,” “Black people” and “Black adults” are used interchangeably throughout this report to refer to U.S. adults who self-identify as Black, either alone or in combination with other races or Hispanic identity.

Throughout this report, “Black, non-Hispanic” respondents are those who identify as single-race Black and say they have no Hispanic background. “Black Hispanic” respondents are those who identify as Black and say they have Hispanic background. We use the terms “Black Hispanic” and “Hispanic Black” interchangeably. “Multiracial” respondents are those who indicate two or more racial backgrounds (one of which is Black) and say they are not Hispanic.

Respondents were asked a question about how important being Black was to how they think about themselves. In this report, we use the term “being Black” when referencing responses to this question.

In this report, “immigrant” refers to people who were not U.S. citizens at birth – in other words, those born outside the U.S., Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories to parents who were not U.S. citizens. We use the terms “immigrant,” “born abroad” and “foreign-born” interchangeably.

Throughout this report, “Democrats and Democratic leaners” and just “Democrats” both refer to respondents who identify politically with the Democratic Party or who are independent or some other party but lean toward the Democratic Party. “Republicans and Republican leaners” and just “Republicans” both refer to respondents who identify politically with the Republican Party or are independent or some other party but lean toward the Republican Party.

Respondents were asked a question about their voter registration status. In this report, respondents are considered registered to vote if they self-report being absolutely certain they are registered at their current address. Respondents are considered not registered to vote if they report not being registered or express uncertainty about their registration.

To create the upper-, middle- and lower-income tiers, respondents’ 2020 family incomes were adjusted for differences in purchasing power by geographic region and household size. Respondents were then placed into income tiers: “Middle income” is defined as two-thirds to double the median annual income for the entire survey sample. “Lower income” falls below that range, and “upper income” lies above it. For more information about how the income tiers were created, read the methodology .

More than a year after the murder of George Floyd and the national protests, debate and political promises that ensued, 65% of Black Americans say the increased national attention on racial inequality has not led to changes that improved their lives. 1 And 44% say equality for Black people in the United States is not likely to be achieved, according to newly released findings from an October 2021 survey of Black Americans by Pew Research Center.

This is somewhat of a reversal in views from September 2020, when half of Black adults said the increased national focus on issues of race would lead to major policy changes to address racial inequality in the country and 56% expected changes that would make their lives better.

At the same time, many Black Americans are concerned about racial discrimination and its impact. Roughly eight-in-ten say they have personally experienced discrimination because of their race or ethnicity (79%), and most also say discrimination is the main reason many Black people cannot get ahead (68%).  

Even so, Black Americans have a clear vision for how to achieve change when it comes to racial inequality. This includes support for significant reforms to or complete overhauls of several U.S. institutions to ensure fair treatment, particularly the criminal justice system; political engagement, primarily in the form of voting; support for Black businesses to advance Black communities; and reparations in the forms of educational, business and homeownership assistance. Yet alongside their assessments of inequality and ideas about progress exists pessimism about whether U.S. society and its institutions will change in ways that would reduce racism.

These findings emerge from an extensive Pew Research Center survey of 3,912 Black Americans conducted online Oct. 4-17, 2021. The survey explores how Black Americans assess their position in U.S. society and their ideas about social change. Overall, Black Americans are clear on what they think the problems are facing the country and how to remedy them. However, they are skeptical that meaningful changes will take place in their lifetime.

Black Americans see racism in our laws as a big problem and discrimination as a roadblock to progress

Black adults were asked in the survey to assess the current nature of racism in the United States and whether structural or individual sources of this racism are a bigger problem for Black people. About half of Black adults (52%) say racism in our laws is a bigger problem than racism by individual people, while four-in-ten (43%) say acts of racism committed by individual people is the bigger problem. Only 3% of Black adults say that Black people do not experience discrimination in the U.S. today.

In assessing the magnitude of problems that they face, the majority of Black Americans say racism (63%), police brutality (60%) and economic inequality (54%) are extremely or very big problems for Black people living in the U.S. Slightly smaller shares say the same about the affordability of health care (47%), limitations on voting (46%), and the quality of K-12 schools (40%).

Aside from their critiques of U.S. institutions, Black adults also feel the impact of racial inequality personally. Most Black adults say they occasionally or frequently experience unfair treatment because of their race or ethnicity (79%), and two-thirds (68%) cite racial discrimination as the main reason many Black people cannot get ahead today.

Black Americans’ views on reducing racial inequality

Black Americans are clear on the challenges they face because of racism. They are also clear on the solutions. These range from overhauls of policing practices and the criminal justice system to civic engagement and reparations to descendants of people enslaved in the United States.

Changing U.S. institutions such as policing, courts and prison systems

About nine-in-ten Black adults say multiple aspects of the criminal justice system need some kind of change (minor, major or a complete overhaul) to ensure fair treatment, with nearly all saying so about policing (95%), the courts and judicial process (95%), and the prison system (94%).

Roughly half of Black adults say policing (49%), the courts and judicial process (48%), and the prison system (54%) need to be completely rebuilt for Black people to be treated fairly. Smaller shares say the same about the political system (42%), the economic system (37%) and the health care system (34%), according to the October survey.

While Black Americans are in favor of significant changes to policing, most want spending on police departments in their communities to stay the same (39%) or increase (35%). A little more than one-in-five (23%) think spending on police departments in their area should be decreased.

Black adults who favor decreases in police spending are most likely to name medical, mental health and social services (40%) as the top priority for those reappropriated funds. Smaller shares say K-12 schools (25%), roads, water systems and other infrastructure (12%), and reducing taxes (13%) should be the top priority.

Voting and ‘buying Black’ viewed as important strategies for Black community advancement

Black Americans also have clear views on the types of political and civic engagement they believe will move Black communities forward. About six-in-ten Black adults say voting (63%) and supporting Black businesses or “buying Black” (58%) are extremely or very effective strategies for moving Black people toward equality in the U.S. Smaller though still significant shares say the same about volunteering with organizations dedicated to Black equality (48%), protesting (42%) and contacting elected officials (40%).

Black adults were also asked about the effectiveness of Black economic and political independence in moving them toward equality. About four-in-ten (39%) say Black ownership of all businesses in Black neighborhoods would be an extremely or very effective strategy for moving toward racial equality, while roughly three-in-ten (31%) say the same about establishing a national Black political party. And about a quarter of Black adults (27%) say having Black neighborhoods governed entirely by Black elected officials would be extremely or very effective in moving Black people toward equality.

Most Black Americans support repayment for slavery

Discussions about atonement for slavery predate the founding of the United States. As early as 1672 , Quaker abolitionists advocated for enslaved people to be paid for their labor once they were free. And in recent years, some U.S. cities and institutions have implemented reparations policies to do just that.

Most Black Americans say the legacy of slavery affects the position of Black people in the U.S. either a great deal (55%) or a fair amount (30%), according to the survey. And roughly three-quarters (77%) say descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. should be repaid in some way.

Black adults who say descendants of the enslaved should be repaid support doing so in different ways. About eight-in-ten say repayment in the forms of educational scholarships (80%), financial assistance for starting or improving a business (77%), and financial assistance for buying or remodeling a home (76%) would be extremely or very helpful. A slightly smaller share (69%) say cash payments would be extremely or very helpful forms of repayment for the descendants of enslaved people.

Where the responsibility for repayment lies is also clear for Black Americans. Among those who say the descendants of enslaved people should be repaid, 81% say the U.S. federal government should have all or most of the responsibility for repayment. About three-quarters (76%) say businesses and banks that profited from slavery should bear all or most of the responsibility for repayment. And roughly six-in-ten say the same about colleges and universities that benefited from slavery (63%) and descendants of families who engaged in the slave trade (60%).

Black Americans are skeptical change will happen

Even though Black Americans’ visions for social change are clear, very few expect them to be implemented. Overall, 44% of Black adults say equality for Black people in the U.S. is a little or not at all likely. A little over a third (38%) say it is somewhat likely and only 13% say it is extremely or very likely.

They also do not think specific institutions will change. Two-thirds of Black adults say changes to the prison system (67%) and the courts and judicial process (65%) that would ensure fair treatment for Black people are a little or not at all likely in their lifetime. About six-in-ten (58%) say the same about policing. Only about one-in-ten say changes to policing (13%), the courts and judicial process (12%), and the prison system (11%) are extremely or very likely.

This pessimism is not only about the criminal justice system. The majority of Black adults say the political (63%), economic (62%) and health care (51%) systems are also unlikely to change in their lifetime.

Black Americans’ vision for social change includes reparations. However, much like their pessimism about institutional change, very few think they will see reparations in their lifetime. Among Black adults who say the descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. should be repaid, 82% say reparations for slavery are unlikely to occur in their lifetime. About one-in-ten (11%) say repayment is somewhat likely, while only 7% say repayment is extremely or very likely to happen in their lifetime.

Black Democrats, Republicans differ on assessments of inequality and visions for social change

Party affiliation is one key point of difference among Black Americans in their assessments of racial inequality and their visions for social change. Black Republicans and Republican leaners are more likely than Black Democrats and Democratic leaners to focus on the acts of individuals. For example, when summarizing the nature of racism against Black people in the U.S., the majority of Black Republicans (59%) say racist acts committed by individual people is a bigger problem for Black people than racism in our laws. Black Democrats (41%) are less likely to hold this view.

Black Republicans (45%) are also more likely than Black Democrats (21%) to say that Black people who cannot get ahead in the U.S. are mostly responsible for their own condition. And while similar shares of Black Republicans (79%) and Democrats (80%) say they experience racial discrimination on a regular basis, Republicans (64%) are more likely than Democrats (36%) to say that most Black people who want to get ahead can make it if they are willing to work hard.

On the other hand, Black Democrats are more likely than Black Republicans to focus on the impact that racial inequality has on Black Americans. Seven-in-ten Black Democrats (73%) say racial discrimination is the main reason many Black people cannot get ahead in the U.S, while about four-in-ten Black Republicans (44%) say the same. And Black Democrats are more likely than Black Republicans to say racism (67% vs. 46%) and police brutality (65% vs. 44%) are extremely big problems for Black people today.

Black Democrats are also more critical of U.S. institutions than Black Republicans are. For example, Black Democrats are more likely than Black Republicans to say the prison system (57% vs. 35%), policing (52% vs. 29%) and the courts and judicial process (50% vs. 35%) should be completely rebuilt for Black people to be treated fairly.

While the share of Black Democrats who want to see large-scale changes to the criminal justice system exceeds that of Black Republicans, they share similar views on police funding. Four-in-ten each of Black Democrats and Black Republicans say funding for police departments in their communities should remain the same, while around a third of each partisan coalition (36% and 37%, respectively) says funding should increase. Only about one-in-four Black Democrats (24%) and one-in-five Black Republicans (21%) say funding for police departments in their communities should decrease.

Among the survey’s other findings:

Black adults differ by age in their views on political strategies. Black adults ages 65 and older (77%) are most likely to say voting is an extremely or very effective strategy for moving Black people toward equality. They are significantly more likely than Black adults ages 18 to 29 (48%) and 30 to 49 (60%) to say this. Black adults 65 and older (48%) are also more likely than those ages 30 to 49 (38%) and 50 to 64 (42%) to say protesting is an extremely or very effective strategy. Roughly four-in-ten Black adults ages 18 to 29 say this (44%).

Gender plays a role in how Black adults view policing. Though majorities of Black women (65%) and men (56%) say police brutality is an extremely big problem for Black people living in the U.S. today, Black women are more likely than Black men to hold this view. When it comes to criminal justice, Black women (56%) and men (51%) are about equally likely to share the view that the prison system should be completely rebuilt to ensure fair treatment of Black people. However, Black women (52%) are slightly more likely than Black men (45%) to say this about policing. On the matter of police funding, Black women (39%) are slightly more likely than Black men (31%) to say police funding in their communities should be increased. On the other hand, Black men are more likely than Black women to prefer that funding stay the same (44% vs. 36%). Smaller shares of both Black men (23%) and women (22%) would like to see police funding decreased.

Income impacts Black adults’ views on reparations. Roughly eight-in-ten Black adults with lower (78%), middle (77%) and upper incomes (79%) say the descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. should receive reparations. Among those who support reparations, Black adults with upper and middle incomes (both 84%) are more likely than those with lower incomes (75%) to say educational scholarships would be an extremely or very helpful form of repayment. However, of those who support reparations, Black adults with lower (72%) and middle incomes (68%) are more likely than those with higher incomes (57%) to say cash payments would be an extremely or very helpful form of repayment for slavery.

• Black adults in the September 2020 survey only include those who say their race is Black alone and are non-Hispanic. The same is true only for the questions of improvements to Black people’s lives and equality in the United States in the October 2021 survey. Throughout the rest of this report, Black adults include those who say their race is Black alone and non-Hispanic; those who say their race is Black and at least one other race and non-Hispanic; or Black and Hispanic, unless otherwise noted. ↩

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