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A media advocacy intervention linking health disparities and food insecurity.
Get PDFMedia advocacy is a well-established strategy for transmitting health messages to the public. This paper discusses a media advocacy intervention that raised issues about how the public interprets messages about the negative effects of poverty on population health. In conjunction with the publication of a manuscript illustrating how income-related food insecurity leads to disparities related to the consumption of a popular food product across Canada (namely, Kraft Dinner®), we launched a media intervention intended to appeal to radio, television, print and Internet journalists. All the media coverage conveyed our intended message that food insecurity is a serious population health problem, confirming that message framing, personal narratives and visual imagery are important in persuading media outlets to carry stories about poverty as a determinant of population health. Among politicians and members of the public (through on-line discussions), the coverage provoked on-message as well as off-message reactions. Population health researchers and health promotion practitioners should anticipate mixed reactions to media advocacy interventions, particularly in light of new Internet technologies. Opposition to media stories regarding the socio-economic determinants of population health can provide new insights into how we might overcome challenges in translating evidence into preventive interventions
Surveillance of health status in minority communities - Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Across the U.S. (REACH U.S.) Risk Factor Survey, United States, 2009.
Get PDFPROBLEM: Substantial racial/ethnic health disparities exist in the United States. Although the populations of racial and ethnic minorities are growing at a rapid pace, large-scale community-based surveys and surveillance systems designed to monitor the health status of minority populations are limited. CDC conducts the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health across the U.S. (REACH U.S.) Risk Factor Survey annually in minority communities. The survey focuses on black, Hispanic, Asian (including Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander), and American Indian (AI) populations.
REPORTING PERIOD COVERED: 2009.
DESCRIPTION OF SYSTEM: An address-based sampling design was used in the survey in 28 communities located in 17 states (Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington). Self-reported data were collected through telephone, questionnaire mailing, and in-person interviews from an average of 900 residents aged ≥ 18 years in each community. Data from the community were compared with data derived from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for the metropolitan and micropolitan statistical area (MMSA), county, or state in which the community was located and also compared with national estimates.
RESULTS: Reported education level and household income were markedly lower in black, Hispanic, and AI communities than that among the general population living in the comparison MMSA, county, or state. More residents in these minority populations did not have health-care coverage and did not see a doctor because of the cost. Substantial variations were identified in self-perceived health status and prevalence of selected chronic conditions among minority populations and among communities within the same racial/ethnic population. In 2009, the median percentage of men who reported fair or poor health was 15.8% (range: 8.3%-29.3%) among A/PI communities and 26.3% (range: 22.3%-30.8%) among AI communities. The median percentage of women who reported fair or poor health was 20.1% (range: 13.3%-37.2%) among A/PI communities, whereas it was 31.3% (range: 19.4%-44.2%) among Hispanic communities. AI and black communities had a high prevalence of self-reported hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. For most communities, prevalence was much higher than that in the corresponding MMSA, county, or state in which the community was located. The median percentages of persons who knew the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and stroke were consistently lower in all four minority communities than the national median. Variations were identified among racial/ethnic populations in the use of preventive services. Hispanics had the lowest percentages of persons who had their cholesterol checked, of those with high blood pressure who were taking antihypertensive medication, and of those with diabetes who had a glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) test in the past year. AIs had the lowest mammography screening rate within 2 years among women aged ≥40 years (median: 72.7%; range: 69.4%-76.2%). A/PIs had the lowest Pap smear screening rate within 3 years (median: 74.4%; range: 60.3%-80.8%). The median influenza vaccination rates in adults aged ≥65 years were much lower among black (57.3%) and Hispanic communities (63.3%) than the national median (70.1%) among the 50 states and DC. Pneumococcal vaccination rates also were lower in black (60.5%), Hispanic (58.5%), and A/PI (59.7%) communities than the national median (68.5%).
INTERPRETATIONS: Data from the REACH U.S. Risk Factor Survey demonstrate that residents in most of the minority communities continue to have lower socioeconomic status, greater barriers to health-care access, and greater risks for and burden of disease compared with the general populations living in the same MMSA, county, or state. Substantial variations in prevalence of risk factors, chronic conditions, and use of preventive services among different minority populations and different communities within the same racial/ethnic population provide opportunities for public health intervention. These variations also indicate that different priorities are needed to eliminate health disparities for different communities.
PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION: These community-level survey data are being used by CDC and community coalitions to implement, monitor, and evaluate intervention programs in each community. Continuous surveillance of health status in minority communities is necessary so that community-specific, culturally sensitive strategies that include system, environmental, and individual-level changes can be tailored to these communities
National Partnership for Action: Toolkit for Community Action
Get PDFCreating a nation free of disparities in health and health care is something we all can work on together.
The National Partnership for Action To End Health Disparities was developed with the mission of
mobilizing and connecting individuals and organizations across the country to create a nation in which
all people have a chance to reach their full health potential. This National Partnership for Action:
Toolkit for Community Action will help individuals, communities and organizations from the public
and private sectors work together to implement programs and policies and engage with the NPA to
reach that goal
Racial Discrimination Is Associated with a Measure of Red Blood Cell Oxidative Stress: A Potential Pathway for Racial Health Disparities
No full textAbstract available at publisher's web site
Black/White Racial Disparities in Health: A Cross-Country Comparison of Canada and the United States
No full textResearch on health disparities in the United States has consistently reported poorer health outcomes among racial/ethnic minorities relative to whites, particularly among African Americans.1-2 In Canada, there are limited studies on racial/ethnic groups, presumably because of concerns about small samples, confidentiality, and an emphasis on socioeconomic inequalities.3 The body of literature regarding black Canadians, which compose 2.5% of the nation, is beginning to emerge.
The existing literature indicates that the burden of disease may be greater for black Canadians compared with their white counterparts, and that black Canadians face a number of barriers to achieving good health, including poverty, difficulty accessing health care, discrimination, and poor health behaviors.4-8
We obtained nationally representative estimates of health indicators among native-born black Canadians, and compared these estimates with those of native-born white Canadians. We replicated the analyses using a US sample of African Americans . .
Philanthropy And Disparities: Progress, Challenges, And Unfinished Business
No full textAbstract available at publisher's web site
Tackling Infant Mortality Rates Among Blacks
No full textAmanda Ralph is the kind of woman whose babies are prone to die. She is young and poor and dropped out of school after the ninth grade.
But there is also an undeniable link between Ms. Ralph’s race — she is black — and whether her baby will survive: nationally, black babies are more than twice as likely as white babies to die before the age of 1. Here in Pittsburgh, the rate is five times.
So, seven months into her first pregnancy, Ms. Ralph, 20, is lying on a couch at home as a nurse from a federally financed program listens
Racism and Hypertension: A Review of the Empirical Evidence and Implications for Clinical Practice
No full textAbstract available at publisher's web site
Social determinants of health among African Americans in a rural community in the Deep South: an ecological exploration.
No full textThis study identified potential social determinants of health, at multiple ecological levels, among African Americans in a rural community in the Deep South. The social determinants identified had the ability to impact a variety of health behaviors and health outcomes. The results demonstrate the value of this approach to conducting rural, community-based research. This descriptive and exploratory study highlights the need for quantitative exploration of these issues, as well as the development of context-appropriate, community-based health interventions that address multiple ecological levels
