---
title: "Sutter Weighs Pros, Cons of Health Equity Research Tool | Sutter Health"
description: "Sutter Health's Institute for Advancing Health Equity examines the Area Deprivation Index, weighing its benefits and limitations for research."
url: "https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation/how-existing-research-tools-may-help-or-hinder-health-equity"
---

1.  [Home](https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/) /
2.  [Research & innovation](https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation) /
3.  How Existing Research Tools May Help Or Hinder Health Equity

# How Existing Research Tools May Help or Hinder Health Equity

Sutter Health's Institute for Advancing Health Equity examines the Area Deprivation Index, weighing its benefits and limitations for research.

February 23, 2023 by Sutter Health

![How Existing Research Tools May Help or Hinder Health Equity](https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/sutterhealt962c-sutterhealt8fce-production57cc-4860/media/Project/SutterHealth/Vitals/research-and-innovation/Latina-female-doctor-gestures-while-speaking-to-a-Black-girl-at-outdoor-community-health-cl-a027cb99.jpg?h=1414&iar=0&w=2121 "How Existing Research Tools May Help or Hinder Health Equity")

Given the rate on ongoing health disparities in America, more interest is now focused on the [tools and resources](https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/health-equity/health-equity-resources.html) available to help evaluate and promote greater health equity.

In a recent [Health Affairs blog post](https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/aco-benchmarks-based-area-deprivation-index-mask-inequities), Sutter Health’s Institute for Advancing Health Equity discusses the Area Deprivation Index. Researchers acknowledge that the ADI can be a useful tool for many research efforts, and it offers several advantages; however, it also contains significant limitations that need to be addressed before its use is broadened.

## Check your Vitals

Get the latest in health innovation, community impact and patient care from Sutter Health — delivered straight to your inbox.

[Subscribe to Vitals](https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/subscribe)

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org","logo":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/static/images/sutter-health-logo.svg","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"2200 River Plaza Drive","addressLocality":"Sacramento","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"95833","addressCountry":"US"},"areaServed":{"@type":"AdministrativeArea","name":"California"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/SutterHealth","https://www.instagram.com/sutterhealth/","https://x.com/SutterHealth","https://www.youtube.com/sutterhealth","https://www.linkedin.com/company/sutter-health","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Health"]}
```

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","name":"Sutter Weighs Pros, Cons of Health Equity Research Tool","description":"Sutter Health's Institute for Advancing Health Equity examines the Area Deprivation Index, weighing its benefits and limitations for research.","url":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation/how-existing-research-tools-may-help-or-hinder-health-equity","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation/how-existing-research-tools-may-help-or-hinder-health-equity#breadcrumblist"}}
```

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation/how-existing-research-tools-may-help-or-hinder-health-equity#article","url":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation/how-existing-research-tools-may-help-or-hinder-health-equity","headline":"Sutter Weighs Pros, Cons of Health Equity Research Tool","description":"Sutter Health's Institute for Advancing Health Equity examines the Area Deprivation Index, weighing its benefits and limitations for research.","articleSection":"Research & innovation","inLanguage":"en-US","datePublished":"2023-02-23T02:21:50-08:00","dateModified":"2026-09-14T13:26:05-07:00","author":[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Person","name":"Sutter Health"}],"publisher":{"@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org"},"abstract":"Sutter Health's Institute for Advancing Health Equity examines the Area Deprivation Index, weighing its benefits and limitations for research.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/sutterhealt962c-sutterhealt8fce-production57cc-4860/media/Project/SutterHealth/Vitals/research-and-innovation/Latina-female-doctor-gestures-while-speaking-to-a-Black-girl-at-outdoor-community-health-cl-a027cb99.jpg?h=1414&iar=0&w=2121","width":"2121","height":"1414","caption":"How Existing Research Tools May Help or Hinder Health Equity"},"thumbnailUrl":"https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/sutterhealt962c-sutterhealt8fce-production57cc-4860/media/Project/SutterHealth/Vitals/research-and-innovation/Latina-female-doctor-gestures-while-speaking-to-a-Black-girl-at-outdoor-community-health-cl-a027cb99.jpg?h=1414&iar=0&w=2121","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/#website","name":"Vitals - Sutter Health","url":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation/how-existing-research-tools-may-help-or-hinder-health-equity"}
```

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation/how-existing-research-tools-may-help-or-hinder-health-equity#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research & innovation","item":"https://vitals.sutterhealth.org/research-innovation"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How Existing Research Tools May Help Or Hinder Health Equity"}]}
```