ABSTRACT
Concepts and methods in the field of human factors engineering are well suited to help uncover, explore, and understand the impact and complex interplay of the many elements that influence an individual’s health. In healthcare, there lies tremendous potential to not only improve health outcomes for populations using human factors, but to address the increasing disparities, often disproportionately burdening the most disenfranchised and underrepresented groups. This chapter addresses how the science of human factors engineering can be applied to better understand and directly address how the healthcare system itself (as currently designed) contributes to health disparities. A systems approach may hold the key to improving connectivity of patients to the health resources they need and enabling them to receive optimal care regardless of who they are, where they come from, where they were born, or where they live.
