Efforts to Improve Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion in Sports Medicine via Community Engagement Initiatives Within American Cities Divided by Racial, Social, and Economic Factors

Abstract

Although the twenty-first century has seen major advances in evidence-based medicine to improve health, athletic performance, and injury prevention, our inability to implement these best practices across underserved American communities has limited the impact of these breakthroughs in sports medicine. Rochester, NY is stereotypical of American communities in which an economically challenged racially diverse urban center with grossly underperforming public schools is surrounded by adequately resourced predominantly Caucasian state-of-the-art education systems. As these great disparities perpetuate and further degrade our society in the absence of interventions, the need for community engagement initiatives is self-evident.

Keywords: Disparities; Injury prevention; Physical activity intervention; Wearables.