Decades of meticulous research have linked an array of social determinants to brain health outcomes, yet disparities persist. Mitigation of disparities requires many things, including wide-spread policy action and more alignment of resources to areas of need. This presentation will introduce audiences to the power health policy holds towards real-world change. Implementation of science-based methods for directly aligning brain health research towards policy change, building coalitions, and reaching non-research stakeholders will be discussed. The story of the decade-long development, launch, employment and policy translation of the Neighborhood Atlas will be offered as an example.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the key role that individual-level and contextual-level social determinants play in brain health
Explain how policy impacts real-world resource allocation and provides one option for increasing alignment of resources to need in any society
Demonstrate how data democratization can bridge research to policy, including through tools such as the Neighborhood Atlas
