According to Healthy People 2020, “Although the term disparities is often interpreted to mean racial or ethnic disparities, many dimensions of disparity exist in the United States, particularly in health. If a health outcome is seen to a greater or lesser extent between populations, there is disparity.” We are asking grantees to specify the population(s) experiencing the disparity within the context of your High-Need Community(ies) and subrecipients.
Grantees may describe the population(s) experiencing the disparity using a broad demographic or cultural category - or “subpopulation”. The DIS asks you to use publicly available data to identify subpopulations within your High-Need Communities. You may quantify subpopulations more specifically as a “disparate population” using data and a designated comparison group. For example, you may identify the subpopulations by “race” and the disparate population as “Black or African American”. However, just because you can separate out a subpopulation (e.g., age separated out by age ranges), does not mean you should identify it as disparate. You should only consider a population “disparate” if you identify a specific race, ethnicity, sex, or LGBTQ identity using a data-driven justification.