As we progress into 2025, Policies for Action reflects on a year of compelling policy research published in 2024. A wide range of studies that connect to health equity in America provided evidence and insights for policymakers, advocates, and community leaders.

While safe, stable, and dignified housing is a cornerstone of health and well-being, providing affordable housing for everyone remains a critical challenge for communities across the nation.

State governments have long used their powers to preempt local government rulings. This practice, known as preemption, describes the primacy of a higher authority of law (e.g. the state) over a lower authority (e.g. counties and cities).

The body of serious research into women’s health now includes many reliable studies that help us understand the unique biological factors that affect women. There is also intriguing research on the wide range of social determinants impacting the health of women and girls.

The Center for Community Resilience (CCR) within the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health has been working alongside a broad coalition of community groups in Cincinnati, Ohio on a Truth & Equity initiative aimed at dismantling decades of inequitable policies and practices rooted in structural racism.

Black History Month has evolved over the years from a vehicle to highlight the achievements of Black Americans, into a time for fostering a deeper understanding of the country’s history and having conversations around questions of racial equity.

In 2023, Policies for Action (P4A) maintained its policy research focus on dismantling systems of inequity that drive the gaps in health and wealth along unsurprising racial lines. P4A projects were encouraged to have a racial equity lens in their design, as the evidence mounts for treating racism as a public health issue.