As part of their joint zukunft.niedersachsen programme, the state of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation are funding seven outstanding research projects on gender and diversity in medicine with a total of nine million euros. The largest grant by far in this round of funding, 3.9 million euros, has been awarded to the HUMAN-LS project at the Center for Health Economics Research (CHERH), which is a collaboration between Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) and the Hannover Medical School (MHH).
The researchers aim to identify the barriers that individuals with an immigrant background experience in accessing healthcare services in Lower Saxony – for example, in the areas of women’s health, mental health and nursing homes. HUMAN-LS stands for “Health Equality, Migration and Diversity: Data Driven Assessment of Disparities, Digitization and Diversity in Prevention, Medical Care and Nursing Care in Lower Saxony“. The participants from LUH are Prof. Dr. Annika Herr (CHERH spokesperson), Prof. Dr. Arndt Reichert (board member) and PD Dr. Jan Zeidler (managing director of CHERH), all from Institute of Health Economics, as well as Dr. Kathrin Damm (Institute of Insurance Business Administration) and Prof. Dr. Michael Breitner (Institute of Insurance Business Administration).
With the help of health data and artificial intelligence, and in compliance with data protection regulations, the researchers will investigate differences in access to and use of medical services. The intensive involvement of associations, administrative bodies and self-help organisations will ensure a high degree of societal participation. The goal is to develop strategies and recommendations for healthcare policy in Lower Saxony.
The researchers are very pleased about their collective success in the zukunft.niedersachsen call for proposals: “New socio-medical impulses for healthcare research: Intersectionality, gender and diversity research”. The aim of the medical gender and diversity subject areas is to achieve better healthcare for all by giving increased attention to biological, social and cultural differences such as age, gender or cultural background when considering diagnoses, therapy, medication and care needs.
More information about the programme and the other projects funded is available here:
Further information about CHERH: www.cherh.de
