Health Inequities Literature - Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR)

Anti Racism: Literature & Writings

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III. Literature

Scholarly articles, literary works and works of journalism that provide evidence for the argument developed in the policy. These articles can be used for readings attached to a course.

Resources are organized by topic as follows:

A. Health Inequities Literature

Health Status Inequities
Healthcare Access Inequities
Healthcare Quality Inequities
Difference in COVID-19 Testing and Care

1. Health Status Inequities

Confronting Prejudice: How to Protect Yourself and Help Others

Prejudice is intertwined with these variables; structural discrimination disadvantages less privileged groups and affects resource allocation, opportunities, and socioeconomic stability.
OnlinePsychology@Pepperdine, the Online Master of Psychology program from Pepperdine University. 2020.

Structural Racism and Health Inequities In The USA

A powerful article summarizing definitions and manifestations of structural racism in the United States, and the effects that structural racism has on health. The article also summarizes what health professionals and the health sector can do to address racism in health care. For those unable to spend much time or demand much reading by their students, this might be the single required reading assigned. This article is also listed in the section on structural racism (definitions and descriptions)

Bailey D Krieger N Agénor N Graves J Linos N Bassett MT, Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and interventions, Lancet 389(10077) 8–14 April 2017, Pages 1453-1463. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30569-X

2016: Chartbook on Long-term Trends in Health

A comprehensive set of statistics on the health of the United States population, the chartbook contains a wealth of information on health disparities by race.

National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2016: Chartbook on Long-term Trends in Health. Hyattsville, MD. 2017.

CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report

A comprehensive report examining many health conditions, behaviors, and health care utilization statistics that document the broad array of health conditions and access issues for which disparities exist across several dimensions, including race

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Introduction: CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report-United States, 2013. MMWR 2013;62(Suppl 3).

How Did Cause of Death Contribute to Racial Differences in Life Expectancy in the United States in 2010?

This article provides a relatively recent snapshot of the overall differences in life-expectancy between blacks and whites in the United States and identified the causes of death which most contribute to this difference.

Kenneth D. Kochanek, M.A.; Elizabeth Arias, Ph.D.; and Robert N. Anderson, Ph.D. How Did Cause of Death Contribute to Racial Differences in Life Expectancy in the United States in 2010? NCHS Data Brief No. 125 July 2013.

Mapping Life Expectancy

In this website, the Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Society and Health provide a set of maps that show how dramatically life expectancy varies from one community to another within a number of U.S. cities.

Deaths: Final Data for 2010

An annual CDC publication (this one for 2010, the last year for which final data are available) that documents trend in death rates in the United States. The tables document the significantly higher age-adjusted and age-specific death rates for blacks in the United States compared to whites.

Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Final Data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 61 no 4. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2013.

Child Health In The United States: Recent Trends In Racial/Ethnic Disparities States

This article presents an overview of racial and ethnic differences in health status for children, both generally and for specific disease states. The article documents the generally higher rates of poor health and disability among black children and shows that these differences are not being reduced substantially over time.

Mehta NK; Lee H; Ylitalo KR. Child Health In The United States: Recent Trends In Racial/Ethnic Disparities. Social Science & Medicine. 95:6-15, 2013 Oct.

Chronic Physical Health Conditions Among Children of Different Racial/Ethnic Backgrounds

This article presents results of the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health and documents the higher rates of illness and disability in Black compared to white children.

Kitsantas P; Kornides ML; Cantiello J; Wu H. Chronic Physical Health Conditions Among Children of Different Racial/Ethnic Backgrounds. Public Health. 127(6):546-53, 2013 Jun.

Impact of Racism on Health and Well-Being

A set of webinars by the American Public Health Association that document the connections between racism and health status

Why Genes Don’t Count (for Racial Differences in Health)

Goodman, AH, Why Genes Don’t Count (for Racial Differences in Health), Am J Public Health. 2000;90: 1699–1702.

Am J Prev Med. 2018 Oct;55(4):462-469.
doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2018.05.017.Epub 2018 Aug 20.

Addressing Health Equity in Public Health Practice

Annu Rev Public Health
. 2020 Apr 2;41:417-432.
doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040119-094119.Epub 2020 Jan 3.

2. Healthcare Access Inequities

Primary Health Care Access Among Pediatric Primary Health Care Access, Continuity, and Cost Among Pediatric Patients with Obesity Hypertension

A study of the Medicaid population in South Carolina. In this primary care system, there were early and persistent disparities in the receipt of outpatient, emergency, and inpatient services over time delivered to African American children and adolescents with multiple medical needs.

Association of Race and Ethnicity with Live Donor Kidney Transplantation in the United States From 1995 to 2014

Among adult first-time kidney transplantation candidates in the United States who were added to the deceased donor kidney transplantation waiting list between 1995 and 2014, disparities in the receipt of live donor kidney transplantation increased from 1995-1999 to 2010-2014.

Tanjala S. Purnell, PhD, MPH1,2,3,4; Xun Luo, MD, MPH1; Lisa A. Cooper, MD, MPH2,3,4,5; et alAllan B. Massie, PhD1,2; Lauren M. Kucirka, MD, PhD, ScM1,2; Macey L. Henderson, JD, PhD1; Elisa J. Gordon, PhD, MPH6; Deidra C. Crews, MD, ScM4,7; L. Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH8; Dorry L. Segev, MD, PhD1,2; JAMA. 2018;319(1):49-61. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.19152.

Racism and Health Disparities

This article differentiates access to healthcare and access to quality healthcare. The author lists numerous studies comparing African-American Medicare patients and White Medicare patients. African Americans are less likely to undergo most surgeries, hip- fracture repair, coronary angioplasty, pneumonia treatment, cancer treatment, and many other solutions to a healthier life. According to text, interpersonal racial bias is one of the many causes of the unequal and unjust treatment.

Access To Health And Health Care: How Race And Ethnicity Matter

Although this study was published before enactment of the Affordable Care Act, and is therefore somewhat out of date with regards to health insurance, it is useful in providing a more comprehensive overview of what contributes to access, and how these many factors are affected by race and ethnicity

Mt Sinai J Med. 2010 Mar-Apr;77(2):166-77. doi: 10.1002/msj.20174. Access to health and health care: how race and ethnicity matter. Richardson LD1, Norris M.

Understanding Disparities in Health Care Access

Many researchers have noted the significant differences in health care access by race, but have failed to provide plausible solutions. This research article specifies past public health frameworks that address disparities in health care access and possible measures to reach health equity.