The North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) supports World Health Organization's Resolution on Social Participation for Universal Health Coverage, Health, and Well-being. This resolution underscores the vital role of engaging individuals, families, and communities in health decision-making processes, a principle that aligns seamlessly with NAPCRG's mission and strategic objectives.

NAPCRG is dedicated to nurturing primary care researchers and trainees who work collaboratively with diverse populations to enhance health outcomes. We recognize that meaningful social participation is essential for developing equitable and effective health systems. By amplifying the voices of underrepresented and marginalized communities, we strive to address health disparities and promote diverse and inclusive research environments.

WHO resolution emphasizes the importance of regular and meaningful social participation to ensure the accountability and legitimacy of health systems.

This perspective resonates with NAPCRG's continuing commitment to fostering partnerships that prioritize the needs and experiences of patients, families, and communities. We believe that such collaborative efforts are fundamental to achieving universal health coverage and improving overall well-being.

Considering this resolution, NAPCRG reaffirms its dedication to the following goals:

• Advancing Participatory Research: We will continue to support research methodologies that actively engage women and all those in vulnerable and/or marginalized situations (e.g. persons with disabilities and Indigenous peoples) as active core participants, ensuring that their insights and experiences inform person-centered health care practices and policies.
• Promoting Health Equity: Our initiatives will focus on reducing health disparities by engaging the whole of society including: not-for-profit, non-governmental, or charitable organizations, local communities, patients, health care providers and care workers in the health sector, youth and volunteers in the research process, thereby ensuring that health interventions are co-created and accessible so that they are developed with cultural humility, gender equity and spiritual humility.
• Enhancing Collaborative Networks: We aim to build upon and strengthen our partnerships with international health organizations, health care providers, policymakers, and communities to promote social participation as a cornerstone of health system development.

By embracing the principles outlined in WHO resolution, NAPCRG is committed to contributing to the global movement towards health systems that are inclusive, participatory, and respond to the needs of all people.

Approved by the NAPCRG Board of Directors on February 7, 2025

We recognize current and historical inequities in research, including inequities in populations and among researchers themselves, that have resulted in disparities in health and well-being. We strive to create a research environment that amplifies the diverse voices of people and communities across all aspects of research, and particularly for those populations and Indigenous peoples who have been -- or continue to be underrepresented. We seek to promote the participation of a diverse membership in NAPCRG leadership, meetings and programs, research, employment and in all its other endeavors. We strive to include all, inclusive of sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, race, religion, disability, ancestry or national origin; and to promote non-violent, rational idea exchange. We commit ourselves to promote primary care research scholarship nationally and internationally.

Approved May 9, 2022

NAPCRG stands for health equity.

As researchers in primary care, we oppose the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that strikes down longstanding protections afforded by Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Our work is hollow if the basic rights of women are discarded.

A fundamental tenet of our statement on diversity and equity is that “we recognize current and historical inequities in research, including inequities in populations and among researchers themselves, that have resulted in disparities in health and well-being…” The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision takes us back to those historical inequities that denigrate women’s interests, those impacted by the social determinants of health (poverty) and minority populations, in particular, who bear the impact of this decision on their health more than others.

Allowing each U.S. state to pass their own laws regarding access to reproductive health care, including abortion services and contraception, exacerbates inequities in the health care system. Those inequities do not follow state boundaries, and they disproportionately affect those women who are in underrepresented groups and underserved areas, where maternal care is already at risk or inadequate. Decreased availability of care and increased travel and associated expenses will make seeking health care challenging for many and prohibitive for some.

This decision undermines the patient-physician relationship and criminalizes the evidence-based medical care that our primary care research work represents. We will continue to support colleagues, patients, communities, and organizations whose work advances evidence-based care, the health of patients, the sanctity of the physician-patient relationship and the protection of choice in the United States.

Request to the ACGME Board to reconsider its decision to reduce this protected faculty time for education and scholarship:

Link to:

• Letter of Appeal
• The Impact
• Dedicated Faculty Time