Measuring systemic racism in scientifically rigorous and precise ways can be extremely difficult and even impractical in many contexts. This is because many forms of racism operate through complex pathways with multiple contributing factors (e.g. beliefs, values, perceptions, behaviors, habits, institutions, laws, policies, and professional practices) and that involve both historical and contemporary actors, decisions, events, and interactions. Fortunately, it may not be necessary to measure systemic racism precisely in order to successfully develop and test solutions to systemic racism. In other words, it may not be necessary to identify precisely who is exposed to such racism and who is not, or to precisely quantify how much exposure has occurred at a specific place and time. (Think about the analogy to second-hand smoke and the research studies that established the feasibility and effectiveness of clean indoor air policies – many of these studies did not need to measure levels of exposure to second-hand smoke in order to prove that these policies were feasible to implement and were effective at improving health outcomes on a population-wide basis). To be sure, we do need to pursue continued progress in the science of measuring systemic racism, because better measures and data will enable new and better research! But this type of scientific progress in measurement is likely to be beyond the scope of the pilot studies supported by this CFP.

Although measures of systemic racism may not be necessary in a pilot study of a novel SA intervention, it is very important to establish a clear and detailed understanding of the specific form(s) of systemic racism that your proposed SA intervention is designed to address. Using existing knowledge from previously conducted research and insights from lived experience, you should establish key facts such as who is affected by your chosen form(s) of systemic racism, how pervasive this problem is across communities and population groups, and what impact this problem has on health and wellbeing for effected communities. Similarly, you will want to use existing knowledge from research and experience to establish key facts about how your chosen form(s) of systemic racism operate through medical, social, and public health systems and how they affect these systems. This knowledge should directly inform the design of your proposed SA intervention, and it should be reflected in the logic model that you develop for your proposed SA intervention. Your logic model should draw upon this existing knowledge to clearly describe how your proposed SA intervention – if successful – will produce improvements in health and wellbeing for communities that are effected by your chosen form(s) of systemic racism. Make sure to include your logic model and related descriptions in the application that you submit to this CFP, using the proposal narrative template.