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Health and Wellness

Hundreds of places in the U.S. have declared racism a public health crisis. What has modified?

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More than 200 cities and counties announced racism was a public health crisis over the previous couple of years, mainly after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police in May 2020. Racial justice advocates they said they finally felt heard rapid growth With political will to resolve problems comparable to disproportionality Covid-19 deaths or baby and maternal mortality rates.

The declarations “signaled that maybe we were finally going to be able to cut through the noise that they didn’t want to hear,” said Ryan McClinton, who works at the nonprofit Public Health Advocates in Sacramento County, Calif. Marsha Guthrie, senior director at the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, called 2020 “a catalytic moment for us to reimagine public consciousness.”

“Think about … decades (and) decades of fighting to make the conversation about race central to the American psyche,” she said. “Now people are talking about it as a general fact of life.”

Children attend a school health fair Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Milwaukee. (Photo by Jeffrey Phelps, AP)

Some health departments have taken up the work of declarations, creating improvement plans focused on racial equality. Others have handed the work off to task forces and consultants to take a look at internal work environments or develop motion plans and suggestions.

Years after the declarations, community organizers and public health advocates in Milwaukee and Sacramento County say little has modified. Officials counter that it’ll take greater than a few years to reverse centuries of structural and institutional racism.

But experts, officials and advocates agreed on one thing: The declarations were a very important first step toward creating a society based on racial equality. Extensive research shows that racism can have detrimental health effects on people of color, including chronic stress and anxiety and better rates of heart disease and asthma.

“If we don’t name racism at the outset, we won’t start developing solutions to address it,” said Dara Mendez, who teaches epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh and has studied early declarations. “… The next step is (asking), what’s the action behind this? … Are there resources? Is there community action?”

Milwaukee Approach

Lilliann Paine desired to see the intersection of racism and public health at the center of on a regular basis public health work, and in 2018 she pitched the idea to the Wisconsin Public Health Association. Milwaukee, where blacks are the largest minority group, became one of the first cities in the country to adopt the declaration in 2019.

“If racism as a public health crisis was truly operational, we would have more people graduating from high school. If it was truly operational, people could live to their full potential and not have to worry about a police officer mistaking them for a gun,” said Paine, who was the city health department’s chief of staff from late 2019 to March 2021. “And these are not overnight changes.”

Wisconsin’s largest city now has community health improvement planreleased in December, goals to handle racism as a public health crisis in a variety of ways — from increasing voter registration to improving infant mortality rates, that are thrice higher for Black infants than for white infants.

The plan also emphasizes the need to enhance housing conditions, and one of the health department’s key priorities is addressing lead poisoning in older homes. Black children in Milwaukee are as much as 2.7 times more more likely to have elevated blood lead levels than other races, in line with the community health improvement plan.

“When the built environment is essentially a poison in your families, you’re going to see the health effects that come with that,” said Health Department Commissioner Dr. Michael Totoraitis, giving the example that children could possibly be “identified as problem learners at school because they’ve been lead poisoned and have permanent brain damage.”

Deanna Branch’s 11-year-old son, Aidan, suffered from lead poisoning when he was a toddler, and he or she pointed to the run-down housing she and plenty of black people in Milwaukee have to live in.

“We have to work with what we have and do what we have to do to make this place safe for our kids,” Branch said, adding, “the rent is going up, but the maintenance of the apartments is not going up at all.”

Melody McCurtis, a longtime advocate for racial equality, said she is interested in some parts of the plan but overall remains to be skeptical.

“When it comes to anti-racism, I don’t want to see, I don’t want to hear the word ‘explore,’” said McCurtis, who’s deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, a community group led by residents. “I know there are things that need to be explored, but some of these things, there’s been a lot of research done… What’s the real strategy that’s going to really get people to where we need to be?”

Sacramento County’s Efforts

Allocating money to declare racism a public health crisis is a very important way for governments to point out they’re committed to implementing these steps, Mendez said. But money was rare in her review of 125 declarations that had been adopted by the end of September 2020.

“It also takes some financial will and real investment to create the kinds of multilayered strategies that can impact well-being outcomes,” said Guthrie of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, which works with governments on racial equity in about 20 states. “It doesn’t happen overnight.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has offered thousands and thousands of dollars in federal grants 2022 for state and native health departments to handle racial disparities and develop workforces.

Sacramento County, California, received $7 million to pay consultants to create an motion plan for the health department and train staff on implicit bias and racial equity.

The county, which adopted the declaration in November 2020, has significant Latino, Asian and black populations, each with a different inequalities in healthcareIn 2020, the Black infant mortality rate in Sacramento County was twice as high as the overall infant mortality rate. From 2010 to 2020, Black, Asian, and Latinx women were more more likely to die during childbirth than white women.

The declaration gave the health department the “green light” to begin addressing equity at the grassroots level, said county public health officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye. This included creating a scholarship program for college kids students create a path to employment by 2029.

Community organizers with Public Health Advocates praise the health department for creating a health and racial equity unit, but they’re frustrated by the lack of progress directed at the outreach.

A 12 months ago, the organization confronted the county board of supervisors during a meeting, expressing concerns that the county was too focused on internal diversity, equity and inclusion reasonably than racial justice. They were frustrated that the county had spent $190,000 for an out-of-state consultant and didn’t bring community members into the DEI Cabinet, which was appointed in May 2023, three years after the declaration.

The county also has not hired a DEI chief to oversee the plan. The Civil Service Commission, which handles the county’s worker selection and retention process, initially didn’t approve the job description since it feared it might be redundant.

Cephoni Jackson was finally hired in January. She shared a draft of a yet-to-be-finalized plan that outlines goals for creating a “culture of belonging,” constructing more inclusive leadership and developing strategies to retain and develop talent. She wants to determine a committee of community members by 2025.

The goals don’t have a timeline, with different county leaders tasked with “promoting” each step. Jackson said she sees a lot of energy from staff to get the motion plan began, adding, “It’s like the conditions are right for a culture change.”

As Kula Koenig, program director at Public Health Advocates, said, “this is progress that is more than just the breadcrumbs they gave us.”

Phil Serna, the county board member who introduced the declaration, said it was vital to acknowledge what has been done and what still lies ahead.

“I think in many ways dealing with racism, dealing responsibly with racism, is a bit like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, right?” he said. “As soon as you think you’re done, you’re done. You have to go back and start painting again.”

___

This story is an element of an ongoing AP series examining impact, legacy and unwanted side effects what is usually called Ferguson’s Uprisingthat erupted a decade ago after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Health and Wellness

Ethnicity is a useful shortcut for identifying needs – without it, targeting public services will become more difficult

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Latest government news directive prioritizing public services “based on need rather than race” will make reaching New Zealanders with greater needs more difficult and take longer.

The directive’s give attention to ethnicity fails to acknowledge that many ‘surrogate’ needs – resembling age, gender, rural location and income – are routinely utilized in New Zealand and elsewhere allocate resources.

And this policy is contradictory relevant evidence that ethnicity is in truth an appropriate strategy to discover needs.

As well as making it more difficult to discover and reach New Zealanders most in need, these policies are more likely to exacerbate existing inequalities. There is also concern that it will put providers liable to financial failure because they don’t receive enough funding to cover patients with the best needs.

Effective shortcuts

Proxies resembling ethnicity, age, gender and placement are effective shortcuts to where the cash is going. The purpose of their use is to offer the proper resources at the proper place and time.

Take, for example, the major funding formula for primary care.

To ensure adequate funding for populations with higher needs, the fundamental services formula is as follows weighted to make sure a higher level of funding to specific population groups. These include children and older people, women, people using multiple services and folks living in rural areas.

From which the particular features used as proxies are taken tests which recognizes that certain groups use or need health services more than others.

Blunt instruments

Frankly, powers of attorney are relatively blunt instruments. However, given the challenges of pinpointing needs, these are the perfect we’ve got.

To determine population health needs without proxies, a nationwide survey of individuals’s health would should be conducted, making an allowance for a big selection of conditions and risk aspects.

Such a study would also must discover which health needs people consider most significant to find out which services might be prioritized. Collecting such information could be expensive and its validity period could be very short.

Mortality rates (by state) may provide data on health needs, but with some limitations – not every health condition causes death.

Other data may give attention to the usage of services (different proxy server). But this approach also has drawbacks. For example, it doesn’t reveal unmet needs for individuals who should not have or cannot access services.

There are serious gaps in our data sets. We have quite good data on hospital services, including diagnoses. However, data is not as available for other services, including the usage of primary care and mental health services.

And the information is virtually non-existent relating to understanding the needs of key population groups, resembling individuals with disabilities and the rainbow community.

Providing a solid analytical case for any resource allocation goal will be difficult in the present environment, particularly given recent public sector cuts.

Are all proxies problematic or only one?

The government has chosen ethnicity as a side of private identity that public sector agencies should use with the best caution as a proxy.

However, when all other aspects were taken under consideration (for example, age and rural location), Māori, Pacific Islanders and other ethnic groups worse health outcomes and access to health care.

In primary care, nevertheless, ethnicity is used only as a proxy measure when allocating a small pool of funding to enhance access to services.

Māori and Pacific peoples particularly proceed to face barriers to accessing health care that might be removed – if ethnicity influenced resource allocation decisions more, not less.

Māori and Pasifika people in New Zealand proceed to struggle with poorer health outcomes.
Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

The issue of human rights

The coalition government formulates its aversion to “racial policy” around human rights – particularly Art. 1.4 of the Act International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

This allows states to take special measures (only) when essential to adequately protect the rights of specific ethnic groups. This signifies that the measures taken in Aotearoa have gone beyond what was essential.

However, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said New Zealand’s health policy was insufficient to satisfy Māori needs. The commission found there was a structural bias against Māori, which meant it was difficult for Māori to access health care on an equal footing with other New Zealanders.

It also found that Māori service providers are marginalized and should not paid for their work at the identical level as other service providers. She also expressed concern in regards to the poorer health outcomes that Māori and Pasifika proceed to face.

In a context of persistent, well-documented inequality and discrimination, the coalition government desires to pretend that ethnicity is not related to need.

If agencies are forced to overlook the role that ethnicity plays in health needs, we will expect a lot of wasted work by back-office employees trying to assemble evidence about what we already know to justify targeted services. Or a lot of wasted money, ensuring services widely available and targeting much more profitable.

Proxies, including those based on ethnicity, play a crucial role in a fair and equitable resource allocation system. They should not random, lazy, or the results of prejudice. They are based on available evidence of demand at population level.



This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

This new podcast is exclusively for Black women who want to embrace their baldness

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Brennan Johnson

Ladies, now is the time, greater than ever, to embrace your skin, including the hairstyles you select to wear.

Brennan Nevada Inc.New York’s only Black, female-led PR and media agency serving technology corporations, startups and enterprise capitalists, today is excited to announce the new podcast show “Bald & Buzzed with Brennan” founded by Brennan Nevada Johnson. A media specialist, this podcast continues and expands our work to reach new and diverse area of interest audiences. Brennan is a descendant of Carter G. Woodson, the founding father of Black History Month, who created the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, launched an educational profession, and published greater than 20 books on Black history. Brennan Nevada Inc., PR and media agencies are keeping Woodson’s legacy alive by telling Black and BIPOC stories to corporations that do not typically have access to best-in-class PR and storytelling services.

This new media enterprise will create content and space exclusively for people without hair who haven’t yet been accepted or celebrated due to outdated beliefs, stigmas and stereotypes imposed by society. With the premiere of the primary season in November, Brennan will host thought-provoking conversations in a news program format, in addition to interviews with inspiring people who have shaved their heads to discuss a wide selection of topics related to business, culture, love, sports, entertainment and sweetness, fashion, personal funds and more.

This podcast will showcase Brennan’s passion for storytelling while instilling confidence and reinforcing the advantages of being bald and engaged in every aspect of on a regular basis life. Bald by selection for over 13 years, Brennan has been published in lifestyle and consumer media akin to , promoting this unique and powerful hairstyle while debunking and debunking myths about having no hair.

“I’m so excited in regards to the official debut of Bald and Buzzed with Brennan. I’m obsessive about baldness, fashionable hairstyles and the media. Why not mix it and supply listeners with the perfect conversations and experiences by rewriting the narrative on how media, society and types interact with bald people? Our mission is to turn what has all the time been portrayed as negative or frankly depressing into positive! Having little or no hair is a life-style, sexy, luxurious and attitude that can be the most important focus of our show. The world needs to know the way cool it is to shave your head.”

Podcast listeners can subscribe and tune in each week as Brennan updates you on every little thing you wish to know to stay awake to date with the most recent news. In addition, Brennan will interview bald and fit pioneers from various industries to encourage viewers to live beautifully and boldly with a bald head. As the name of the podcast suggests, it’s an entendre because buzz can mean many things – haircuts, news, being drunk, gossip, etc.

For more on Baldy and Buzzed with Brennan, subscribe to them YouTube pageto watch the most recent episodes.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

The four “ashrams” of Hinduism and what they can teach us about aging gracefully

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Aging often evokes fear, opposition, and within the cruelest cases, ridicule and even punishment.

Louise Aronsongeriatrician and writer of the book “Old age– she put it well when she said it older people who are looking for health care they often feel redundant, even if the intentions are benign. In workplace usually, being older seems to imply uselessness.

Many older individuals are haunted by an irrational but socially reinforced sense of failure. Reporter Ali Pattillo writes National Geographer: “Nobody wants to be old, especially as stereotypes about aging have become more negative… fueling what some call a global aging crisis.”

I’m researcher of South Asia whose work focused on the transformation of Indian society because of this of British colonization, resulting in the loss of pre-colonial values, knowledge and customs. I’m aware of this Teachings of Hinduism about different stages of life – four ashrams – knowledge that has been lost today.

This model of human life could offer guidance on the way to age more gracefully.

Model of four ashrams

The concept of four ashrams has existed since 500 BC and is described intimately in: Hindu classical ancient texts. It is integrated with Purushartha’s ideaor the four proper goals of life in Hindu philosophy, namely dharma or morality; artha, or wealth; kama, or love; and moksha – liberation.

In ancient literature brahmacharya, the primary stage, or ashramit is alleged to start on the age of 7, when slightly boy is assigned a guru, or teacher, who studies hard and follows ascetic discipline and self-control, including complete celibacy until the subsequent ashram.

In the subsequent ashram generally known as grhasthaIt is alleged that the boy, now a young man, is passing from academic studies to coping with worldly matters. Grihastha is an important period in a person’s life, including decent family support, ethical wealth constructing, and having children.

He got here across the age of 50 vanaprasthawhen the method of renunciation of the world was expected to be initiated. It began with breaking away from family life and step by step approaching a life devoid of worldly burdens and responsibilities. It was the equivalent of today’s pension and pension.

He got here last sanyasa, or complete renunciation – a time of complete detachment from the world, desires and anxieties, around 75. Sanyasin left home, went to the forest, became a teacher and modeled the achievement of final spiritual liberation.

Not all ages is a panoramic race

Each stage of life have to be lived in line with its natural possibilities.
Halfpoint/Moment Collection Images via Getty Images

Given the currently increased human lifespan, the timeline indicated above for every stage ought to be interpreted easily and diversely. Generally speaking, in Hinduism, the approximation of such stages and ways of life at different ages is an affordable timeline for life. Anyone, regardless of race, gender, nationality and age, can learn from ashrams. Not all ages and every stage of life needs to be experienced as a breathless race.

The ideal of four ashrams proposes living and having fun in line with one’s natural capabilities at any point in life. And when the race goes well, you can and do decelerate, back out, and start a distinct journey. In his collection of poems entitledForest of Eternity” Paul Zweig, facing his own premature death from cancer, imagined life after death as freedom from the tormenting bonds of death, very like Hindu philosophers conceptualized life as stages of natural progression toward freedom from the conflicts and sufferings of the world and transcendence.

This ideal of the four stages of Hindu philosophy teaches us that we should not have to live in a relentless mindset of holding back changes in abilities, but to live life to the fullest at each stage, actively and contemplatively, catching the ebbs and flows of the human condition.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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