scholarly journals Commentary: Reflections on the COVID-19 Pandemic and Health Disparities in Pediatric Psychology

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 839-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Valenzuela ◽  
Lori E Crosby ◽  
Roger R Harrison
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Vulnerable Communities ◽  
Racial Injustice ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Abstract The COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus) pandemic has had a significant economic, social, emotional, and public health impact in the United States. A disturbing trend is that Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color (BIPOC) are disproportionately contracting coronavirus, as well as dying from COVID-19. Objective/Methods The pandemic has the potential to entrench and magnify existing health disparities and families marginalized across multiple demographic intersections such as race/ethnicity, class, immigration status, are especially vulnerable. These inequities have been further underscored by the recent murders of Black Americans by police and a resulting spotlight on racial injustice in the United States. Results Efforts to lessen the spread of the virus, have resulted in changes in pediatric primary and subspecialty service delivery which may affect access for BIPOC communities. BIPOC trainees including those with debt or caregiving responsibilities may be faced with new barriers resulting in delays in completion of their training. Further, clinical, community-based, and translational research has been disrupted by heightened safety precautions and social distancing which may affect BIPOC representation in research downstream. Conclusion In our roles as clinicians, supervisors, trainees, and researchers in primary and subspecialty care as well as in academia, pediatric psychologists have an ethical responsibility to address the disproportionate burden of this pandemic on vulnerable communities and to allocate our time and resources to ensuring health equity now and in the aftermath of COVID-19.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic: Disparate Health Impact on the Hispanic/Latinx Population in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (10) ◽  
pp. 1592-1595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul Macias Gil ◽  
Jasmine R Marcelin ◽  
Brenda Zuniga-Blanco ◽  
Carina Marquez ◽  
Trini Mathew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract In December 2019, a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, emerged in Wuhan, China, causing the coronavirus disease 2019 we now refer to as COVID-19. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 12 March 2020. In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed preexisting social and health disparities among several historically vulnerable populations, with stark differences in the proportion of minority individuals diagnosed with and dying from COVID-19. In this article we will describe the emerging disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Hispanic/Latinx (henceforth: Hispanic or Latinx) community in the United States, discuss potential antecedents, and consider strategies to address the disparate impact of COVID-19 on this population.

scholarly journals Church-based interventions to address obesity among African Americans and Latinos in the United States: a systematic review

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen R Flórez ◽  
Denise D Payán ◽  
Kartika Palar ◽  
Malcolm V Williams ◽  
Bozena Katic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Vulnerable Communities ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
The Church

Abstract Context Multilevel church-based interventions may help address racial/ethnic disparities in obesity in the United States since churches are often trusted institutions in vulnerable communities. These types of interventions affect at least two levels of socio-ecological influence which could mean an intervention that targets individual congregants as well as the congregation as a whole. However, the extent to which such interventions are developed using a collaborative partnership approach and are effective with diverse racial/ethnic populations is unclear, and these crucial features of well-designed community-based interventions. Objective The present systematic literature review of church-based interventions was conducted to assess their efficacy for addressing obesity across different racial/ethnic groups (eg, African Americans, Latinos). Data Sources and Extraction In total, 43 relevant articles were identified using systematic review methods developed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Task Force on Community Preventive Services. The extent to which each intervention was developed using community-based participatory research principles, was tailored to the particular community in question, and involved the church in the study development and implementation were also assessed. Data Analysis Although 81% of the studies reported significant results for between- or within-group differences according to the study design, effect sizes were reported or could only be calculated in 56% of cases, and most were small. There was also a lack of diversity among samples (eg, few studies involved Latinos, men, young adults, or children), which limits knowledge about the ability of church-based interventions to reduce the burden of obesity more broadly among vulnerable communities of color. Further, few interventions were multilevel in nature, or incorporated strategies at the church or community level. Conclusions Church-based interventions to address obesity will have greater impact if they consider the diversity among populations burdened by this condition and develop programs that are tailored to these different populations (eg, men of color, Latinos). Programs could also benefit from employing multilevel approaches to move the field away from behavioral modifications at the individual level and into a more systems-based framework. However, effect sizes will likely remain small, especially since individuals only spend a limited amount of time in this particular setting.

scholarly journals Estimating the early death toll of COVID-19 in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Weinberger ◽  
Ted Cohen ◽  
Forrest W. Crawford ◽  
Farzad Mostashari ◽  
Don Olson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Complete Picture ◽  
Public Health Impact ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Us ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

ABSTRACTBackgroundEfforts to track the severity and public health impact of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the US have been hampered by testing issues, reporting lags, and inconsistency between states.Evaluating unexplained increases in deaths attributed to broad outcomes, such as pneumonia and influenza (P&I) or all causes, can provide a more complete and consistent picture of the burden caused by COVID-19.MethodsWe evaluated increases in the occurrence of deaths due to P&I above a seasonal baseline (adjusted for influenza activity) or due to any cause across the United States in February and March 2020. These estimates are compared with reported deaths due to COVID-19 and with testing data.ResultsThere were notable increases in the rate of death due to P&I in February and March 2020. In a number of states, these deaths pre-dated increases in COVID-19 testing rates and were not counted in official records as related to COVID-19. There was substantial variability between states in the discrepancy between reported rates of death due to COVID-19 and the estimated burden of excess deaths due to P&I. The increase in all-cause deaths in New York and New Jersey is 1.5-3 times higher than the official tally of COVID-19 confirmed deaths or the estimated excess death due to P&I.ConclusionsExcess P&I deaths provide a conservative estimate of COVID-19 burden and indicate that COVID-19-related deaths are missed in locations with inadequate testing or intense pandemic activity.RESEARCH IN CONTEXTEvidence before this studyDeaths due to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, have been increasing sharply in the United States since mid-March. However, efforts to track the severity and public health impact of COIVD-19 in the US have been hampered by testing issues, reporting lags, and inconsistency between states. As a result, the reported number of deaths likely represents an underestimate of the true burden.Added Value of this studyWe evaluate increases in deaths due to pneumonia across the United States and relate these increases to the number of reported deaths due to COVID-19 in different states and evaluate the trajectories of these increases in relation to the volume of testing and to indicators of COVID-19 morbidity. This provides a more complete picture of mortality due to COVID-19 in the US and demonstrates how delays in testing led to many coronavirus deaths not being counted in certain states.Implications of all the available evidenceThe number of deaths reported to be due to COVID-19 represents just a fraction of the deaths linked to the pandemic. Monitoring trends in deaths due to pneumonia and all-causes provides a more complete picture of the tool of the disease.

“A Problem of Humanity”: The Human Rights Framework and the Struggle for Racial Justice

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Rosino
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Symbolic Politics ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Racial Injustice

While the historical and ongoing symbolic and material inequalities and violence faced by African Americans can be understood as a human rights violation, the efficacy of the human rights framework for addressing racial injustice in the United States remains contested. In this article, I examine the relationship between the emergence and dominance of the geopolitical doctrine of human rights and the struggle for racial justice in the United States. Through historical, legal, and sociological analysis of relevant issues and cases, I discern the benefits and limitations of the human rights framework for achieving racial justice and elucidate dynamics between relevant institutional, political, and social actors. I argue that the human rights framework opens international pathways for information, accountability, and symbolic politics conducive to combating racial injustice, particularly regarding overt manifestations of oppression and violence, but enduring issues such as the role of the state in racial politics and the dehumanization of people of color present hindrances.

Insuring the Population During National Emergencies Leveraging Both Medicaid and the Marketplace

2021 ◽  
pp. e1-e3
Author(s):  
Rebekah E. Gee ◽  
William R. Boles ◽  
Sara Rosenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Modern History ◽  
The Us ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

No event in modern history has brought the US health system’s flaws into sharp relief like the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether the focus is on insurance coverage, public health, or health disparities, the novel coronavirus is forcing the United States to confront a remarkable set of problems.1 Given the fierce urgency of these challenges, we do not have years to solve these problems or implement promising solutions. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print January 28, 2021: e1–e3. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306083 )

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