Blog

By Rachel Baird & Krista Melone, June 16, 2020, TODAY. I n the middle of a pandemic, a discussion about “everyday health” and the medical community tends to take a backseat to the more pressing questions surrounding the spread of a new virus. However, as many of us are realizing, the impact COVID-19 has had on medical practice nationwide is far-reaching. From elective surgeries that have been postponed, to blood drives being canceled and increased concern about routine visits; the...

By Martha Bebinger, June 19, 2020, WBUR As calls for racial justice continue on Boston streets, conversations have shifted to what’s next. That’s true inside hospitals as well, where the life-long effects of racism play out every day. “You could almost take any chronic disease in America, diabetes, hyper-tension, and there will be higher rates and worse outcomes in Black Americans,” says Dr. Rose Olson, a resident physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “That’s not due to biology or...

By KQED Science, KQED, June 14, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic and the recent killing of George Floyd have brought longstanding racial inequities into sharp focus. One of those disparities concerns the high rate of coronavirus transmission among people of color. To talk about the intersection of race and health, KQED's Brian Watt spoke last week with California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who is known for her pioneering work on the role that childhood stress and trauma play on...

2020 Health Equity Call for Research: AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access Introduction In recognition of the importance of research and the dissemination of evidence-based solutions to achieve health equity, the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) founded the Collaborative for Health Equity: Act, Research, Generate Evidence (CHARGE), a forum for investigators, clinicians, and community partners to collaborate and improve upon research that aims to minimize disparities in...

By Robin Zlotnick, June 9, 2020, Distractify. If you want concrete evidence of deeply ingrained racism, look no further than our doctors and healthcare workers. Dr. Jennifer Lincoln is going viral on TikTok for explaining just how rampant implicit bias is in hospitals and doctors' offices. She highlights a 2016 study , which found that about half of white medical students and residents subscribed to the false narrative that Black people feel less pain than white people and were more likely...

June 10, 2020. Michele K. Evans, M.D., Lisa Rosenbaum, M.D., Debra Malina, Ph.D., Stephen Morrissey, h.D., and Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. For the New England Journal of Medicine. For physicians, the words “I can’t breathe” are a primal cry for help. As many physicians have left their comfort zones to care for patients with Covid-19–associated respiratory failure, the role of the medical profession in addressing this life-defining need has rarely been clearer. But as George Floyd’s repeated...

Join us as we delve into the paradigm-shifting ethos of trauma-informed care with renowned expert Dr. Megan Gerber. Dr. Gerber is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and serves as Medical Director of Women’s Health for VA Boston where she directs the Women’s Health Fellowship. Dr. Gerber edited the textbook, “Trauma-informed Health Care Approaches: A Guide for Primary Care.” We discuss the framework for trauma-informed universal precautions, as well as bas

By Tia Taylor Williams, American Public Health Association, May 2020 Alarming disparities within the COVID-19 pandemic — such as higher hospitalizations and death rates among African Americans — are sadly predictable and highlight the urgent need to address the root causes of health inequities. APHA is hosting this four-part webinar series to give an in-depth look at racism as a driving force of the social determinants of health and equity. The series will explore efforts to address systems,...

June 1, 2020, Urban Libraries Council Newsroom Blog. In a strong act of commitment to a more equitable society, 164 public libraries across North America signed the Urban Libraries Council’s Statement on Race and Social Equity . This statement serves as a baseline upon which libraries can build policies and actions that make their communities more inclusive and just. [ Please click here to read more. ]

By Rob Waters, June 4, 2020, California Health Care Foundation. Aida Meza has been working as a promotora de salud, a community health worker, since she moved across the border from Tijuana, Mexico, to the San Diego area 23 years ago. She came to Chula Vista with her husband, an American citizen, so they could send their kids to better schools. “At first I cried every day because I wanted to go back to my home,” she said. Then the principal at her children’s school, Vista Square Elementary,...

Of interest: Spend June 5 with members of the new National Academies report: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth Announcement in ACES Connection calendar : June 5 Calendar Announcement https://www.acesconnection.com/event/realizing-opportunity-for-all-youth-discussion-the-new-national-academies-report or at Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, University of Virginia (ILPPP) https://ilppp.virginia.edu/OREM/JuvenilePrograms/Course/144 Working with the National Academies of Sciences,...

People’s response to the great chasms of structural inequities glaringly laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic have been further inflamed by the murder of George Floyd and deaths of other African Americans in recent weeks. The acute emergency of the pandemic has eased, but the violence inflicted on racial minorities and now those who are protesting the inequities in our society has compounded the outrage. Right after the pandemic began running riot across the US, I often heard people ask: When...