Race, ethnicity, and racism
Institutionalized Racism
Differential access to the goods, services, and opportunities of society by race
What contributes to the LBW of African American babies?
Unequal treatment of African Americans in American society
Hispanic women rate of LBW, VLBW, and infant mortality for Hispanic women is nearly the same as white women.
Present - Fatalistic
Future is predestined and due to fate
Personally Mediated Racism
prejudice and discrimination
where prejudice means differential assumptions about the abilities, motives, and intentions of others according to their race, and discrimination means differential actions toward others according to their race
What happened to the health of the mushroom farmers in Kennett Square Pennsylvania
Starting to feel the effects of chronic disease
-Diabetes
-High BP
Whitehall Study findings
This study followed employees in the British Civil Service for a period of several decades, recording aspects of their health status. Employment hierarchy was tied to better health.
M&Ms Study
Demonstrated economic inequality
What is ethnicity?
Having common cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics
What contributed to the Pima decline in health and struggles with type 2 diabetes
Around 1900 the increased population of white settlers to the north led to the eventual diversion of the water that supported the Pimas' way of life. The forced curtailment of farming led to significant impacts on their food intake, physical activity and their economy. Their life changed from farming sustained though physical labor to one of food scarcity and little labor.
Reasons for the Latina Paradox
Strong cultural ties
Strong family support networks
They stick to their traditions including dietary
"Marianismo" - devotion to maternal role
3 dimensions of cultural humility
Life long learning
Critical self reflection
Recognizing and challenging power imbalances, and Institutional accountability
Ways racism impacts health
Health-care infrastructure and services are inequitably distributed, resulting in predominantly black neighborhoods having lower-quality facilities with fewer clinicians than those in other neighborhoods
*Growing research linking interpersonal racism to various biomarkers of disease and well being, including allostatic load, inflammatory markers etc.
What are some non-medical things that can be done to improve health?
Public health infrastructure
Distribution of wealth
Better education and housing
Marshmallow test findings
The children who waited the full 15 minutes for the larger reward we more verbally fluent, rational/attentive, able to deal with frustration, as well as being more academically and socially competent.
Multidimensional model of health
Health is a 3-dimensional concept:
1.Health as the absence of disease;
2.Health as social role functioning;
3.Psychological health.
What is race?
Group of people belonging to the same family from a common ancestor
Fight or flight stress response
The fight-or-flight response, also known as the acute stress response, refers to the physiological reaction that occurs when in the presence of something mentally or physically terrifying. This response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety.
Health is measured at the following levels:
-At the individual level
-At the community or neighborhood level
-At the country of societal level
Group with highest life expectancy
Hispanic females