“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
A person’s overall health and wellness is dramatically impacted by the racism and discrimination they face in a variety of different issue areas. The conditions in which people are born, live, work, and age has been demonstrated to account for a person’s health and wellness.
Given what we learned about structural racism in the past few weeks, you can imagine how these conditions, also known as social determinants of health, can have negative impacts on the health outcomes for people of color. Some other examples of social determinants of health include economic factors like job status, income, and medical bills; living conditions including housing, access to transportation, safety, and access to parks and playgrounds; educational opportunities like early childhood support, literacy, and access to training; access to healthy food; social support and levels of stress; and quality of health care.
Achieving health equity necessitates that we address racism and discrimination, both in healthcare and in other aspects of society. This week’s activities will explore the different ways that structural racism functions to produce disparities in health outcomes for people of color.
Here are some quick statistics that illustrate these disparities:
• In Nassau County, Black babies are about 3.5 times as likely as White babies to die before their first birthday. (Source: Read Activity Two)
• North Bellport (60% non-white according to 2020 census stats) adjacent to the Brookhaven landfill is reported to have the lowest life-expectancy rate on Long Island, according to 2018 Center for Disease Control National Center for Health statistics. It is about 10 years younger than the average life-expectancy for NYS. (Source: Read Activity Three)
TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Do one or more of the following…
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READ:
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Caring for Equality by 
Necessary Conversations by 