health disparities

A pediatrician examines a newborn baby in her clinic in Chicago on Tuesday in 2019. In a new policy statement released Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics says it is putting all its guidance under the microscope to eliminate "race-based" medicine a

Health & Safety

A U.S. pediatricians' group is trying to eliminate race-based medical guidance

12:57pm May 02, 2022

by The Associated Press

The American Academy of Pediatrics is reexamining its treatment recommendations. Pediatricians have followed flawed guidelines linking race to risks for urinary infections and newborn jaundice.

Members of the Black Equity Coalition, a grassroots team of researchers and advocates, meet regularly to discuss how they can use data to uncover life-threatening disparities between white and Black Pittsburgh. Clockwise, from top left are Kellie Ware, Ka

Data analysts proved what Black Pittsburgh knew about COVID's racial disparities

1:56pm December 07, 2021

by Christine Spolar

Community leaders saw early in the pandemic that the city's residents of color were being hit hard by COVID-19. They worked with data analysts to show just how hard, where and why.

A Planet Fitness employee cleans equipment before a gym's reopening in March in Inglewood, Calif., after being closed due to COVID-19. Reduced access to recreation likely has contributed to weight gain during the pandemic.

Health & Safety

Obesity Rates Rise During Pandemic, Fueled By Stress, Job Loss, Sedentary Lifestyle

3:34pm September 29, 2021

by Yuki Noguchi

New data shows the pandemic exacerbated an already fast-growing problem, tipping more Americans' weight over the scales into unhealthy territory.

Last year, in her first year of medical school at Harvard, Pooja Chandrashekar recruited 175 multilingual health profession students from around the U.S. to create simple and accurate fact sheets about COVID-19 in 40 languages.

How Medical Jargon Can Make COVID Health Disparities Even Worse

1:43pm May 24, 2021

by Fran Kritz

There's a lot of room for dangerous misunderstanding when doctors and public health officials talk to diverse groups about COVID-19. Health literacy projects aim to dispel confusion in all languages.

Interpreter Ana Maria Rios-Velez demonstrates the screening app at the front entrance of Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. It has a multilingual function to better communicate with non-English speaking patients and staff.

Health & Safety

The Pandemic Imperiled Non-English Speakers In A Hospital

5:00am April 23, 2021

by Martha Bebinger

Data from a Boston hospital showed that Latino patients who did not speak English well had a 35% greater risk of death from COVID-19. The hospital has added interpretation capacity.

Dr. Hansel Tookes made sure his first dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami on Dec. 15. was televised, as a way to combat hesitancy.

Health & Safety

More Black And Latinx Americans Are Embracing COVID-19 Vaccination

10:16am March 20, 2021

by Jon Hamilton

Surveys show that support for COVID-19 vaccines is rising among Black and Latinx populations, now that tens of millions of Americans have safely received the shots.

Queue Listen Now

A Hasidic man and medical workers cross paths near the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in November. When public health messaging comes from community leaders, it's much more likely to be adopted, research on diverse groups finds.

'Trusted Messengers, Trusted Messages': How To Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy

5:00am December 24, 2020

by Fran Kritz

As the first COVID-19 vaccines begin to be rolled out across the U.S., community leaders in diverse groups already are working hard to dispel misinformation and reach skeptics with truth.

U.S. pandemic response needs a fresh lens: equity.

OPINION: To Solve The Pandemic, Biden Must Focus On Equity

9:11am November 13, 2020

Doctors who helped stop Ebola call on Joe Biden's transition team to address COVID-19's racial and economic inequities. The evidence shows a safety net under the most vulnerable protects us all.

Dr. Pierre Chanoine administers a COVID-19 swab test on a person outside the Pinn Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia in April. The group Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium offers testing at various locations to help address heath disparities in Africa

'Racial Inequality May Be As Deadly As COVID-19,' Analysis Finds

5:48pm August 27, 2020

by Maria Godoy

A century of U.S. statistics finds mortality rates and life expectancy were much worse for Black Americans during pre-pandemic years than they have been for white people during the COVID-19 crisis.

The industrial complex in Carthage where many Latinx residents work is a half-mile walk from the town square.

Health & Safety

In Rural Missouri, Latinx Communities Learn To Contain And Cope With The Coronavirus

7:00am August 01, 2020

by Sebastián Martínez Valdivia

Rural Carthage, Mo., is home to a growing community of Latin American immigrants. Language barriers and economic stress have made it harder to slow the spread of COVID-19.