A new commentary published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, with co-authors who include the Chair of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) Board of Directors, Dr. Pebbles Fagan and Prevention Research Center (PRC) Senior Research Scientist and Study Director Dr. Juliet Lee, urges the research field to work to eliminate tobacco-related health disparities via an intersectional paradigm shift.
The commentary focuses on how intersectionality research can improve our understanding of why and how some social groups are disproportionately harmed by commercial tobacco use and improve our ability to address persistent tobacco-related health disparities.
An intersectional perspective identifies, uncovers, and seeks to understand the complex interdependent systems of oppression and disadvantage linked with social identities such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic position, religion, indigeneity, sex, sexuality, and gender identity.
The authors, led by Dr. Andy Tan, outline the rationale and recommendations for incorporating intersectionality into equity-minded tobacco control research.
These recommendations arose from webinars organized by the Health Equity Network of the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco, SRNT ( https://www.srnt.org/ ).
The commentary authors propose that eliminating tobacco-related disparities requires a multilevel, multipronged research approach including:
- acknowledging that structural factors, racism, and power dynamics shape lived experiences,
- integrating critical theoretical frameworks and intersectionality scholarship into research questions, and
- embracing collaborative community-based approaches at every level of the research process.
PRC Study co-author Dr. Juliet Lee notes: “Through these actions, the field can take concrete steps to fundamentally improve our approach to conducting research to achieve health equity.”
Source: “Incorporating Intersectionality as a Framework for Equity-Minded Tobacco Control Research – A call for Collective Action toward a Paradigm Shift.” Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. https://academic.oup.com/ntr/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ntr/ntac110/6570837?redirectedFrom=fulltext
