Minority

Public Health Institute's (PHI) Cherished Futures for Black Moms and Babies Program is such an important program and example. Racism and toxic stress are root causes for racial disparities in birth outcomes. PHI’s Cherished Futures for Black Moms and Babies is centering the lived experiences of Black women and birthing parents to address this ongoing maternal mortality crisis, bringing together decision-makers from local hospitals, public health departments, health plans and Black women community leaders to identify and put into action systems-change solutions at clinical, institutional and community levels.

The National Council for Mental Wellbeing announced a toolkit, Public Safety-led Community-oriented Overdose Prevention Efforts (PS-COPE), which provides framework to use to enhance overdose prevention and response in the Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities. The toolkit provides tips, tools, and resources to help integrate this approach into existing overdose prevention and response efforts.

To more effectively address known barriers to treatment for substance use disorder (SUD), policy researchers looked at feedback from 27 community-based programs serving predominantly people of color across the U.S. Beyond poverty and racism, providers describe challenges retaining staff with appropriate language and cultural skills as well as a complex patchwork of social skills. 

Racial/ethnic minorities have experienced disproportionate opioid-related overdose death rates in recent years. In this context, inequities were examined in community-based naloxone access across racial/ethnic groups in Massachusetts.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a new report to Congress on access to obstetric care in rural communities. GAO found that the number of rural hospitals providing obstetric services declined from 2004 through 2018. By 2018 more than half of rural counties lacked OB services. OB closures were focused in rural counties that were sparsely populated, had a majority of Black residents, and were considered low income. GAO interviewed stakeholders to identify the most important factors affecting availability of OB care and the efforts federal agencies, states, and others could take to increase availability of services.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced more than $4.8 million in grants to 10 organizations under its Community-Driven Approaches to Address Factors Contributing to Structural Racism in Public Health initiative. The grant money will support a three-year OMH initiative that intends to identify new and innovative ways to address policies that may create or perpetuate health disparities and may contribute to structural racism.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS awarded $98.9 million in grant funding to help consumers navigate enrollment through the Marketplace, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Navigator organizations will focus on outreach to people who identify as racial and ethnic minorities, people in rural communities, the LGBTQ+ community, American Indians and Alaska Natives, refugee and immigrant communities, low-income families, pregnant women and new mothers, people with transportation or language barriers or lacking internet access, veterans, and small business owners.

The latest count from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) went up to 93,000 deaths in 2020, an increase of 29 percent over the previous year.  Disparities between different population groups widened: black people 15-24 years old experienced the largest rate increase, 86 percent, seven times that of white men in the same age group; overdose rates for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) women 25-44 years were nearly two-times that of white women. 

Drug overdose deaths increased 30% in the United States from 2019 to 2020. Known health disparities exist in overdose mortality rates, particularly among certain racial/ethnic minority populations. Implementation of an evidence-based, culturally responsive, multi-sectoral approach is critical to reducing disparities in overdose rates. This includes addressing structural barriers and enhancing efforts such as linkage to care and harm reduction services.

The latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report shows differences by geography (including rural/urban), age, household income, and health insurance status.  Separately, a group of researchers asked rural Oklahomans about their perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines, and found that the most common reasons for hesitancy were their rapid development and lack of research about long-term effects.