Hunger in the United States: Policy Implications

The opening decades of the twentieth century saw a passing fashion for “Aztec” dancing in the vaudeville theaters of the United States. Russian classical dancers Kosloff and Fokine tapped the orientalist currents of the Ballets Russes, adopting the Aztec as superficial signs of the American. Conversely, works by Shawn and film director Cecil B. DeMille, which served as points of reference for the Russians, represented a continuation of equally orientalist attitudes toward Mexico's past, forged during the realization of the United States’ policy of Manifest Destiny. The emergence of a cadre of trained dancers from Mexico, trained by students of Kosloff and Shawn, would bring a distinctively different perspective on the presentation of their heritage to the dance stage, one that was no longer based in the imagination of an expansionist America.

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Creating Intersectional Subjects: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Health Science Breastfeeding Research

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity ◽

10.1177/2332649220981097 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 233264922098109

Author(s):

Shannon K. Carter ◽

Ashley Stone ◽

Lain Graham ◽

Jonathan M. Cox

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Discourse Analysis ◽

Black Women ◽

Critical Discourse Analysis ◽

The United States ◽

Health Science ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Critical Discourse ◽

Race Disparities ◽

Breastfeeding Policy

Reducing race disparities in breastfeeding has become a health objective in the United States, spurring research aimed to identify causes and consequences of disparate rates. This study uses critical discourse analysis to assess how Black women are constructed in 80 quantitative health science research articles on breastfeeding disparities in the United States. Our analysis is grounded in critical race and intersectionality scholarship, which argues that researchers often incorrectly treat race and its intersections as causal mechanisms. Our findings reveal two distinct representations. Most commonly, race, gender, and their intersection are portrayed as essential characteristics of individuals. Black women are portrayed as a fixed category, possessing characteristics that inhibit breastfeeding; policy implications focus on modifying Black women’s characteristics to increase breastfeeding. Less commonly, Black women are portrayed as a diverse group who occupy a social position in society resulting from similar social and material conditions, seeking to identify factors that facilitate or inhibit breastfeeding. Policy implications emphasize mitigating structural barriers that disproportionately impact some Black women. We contribute to existing knowledge by demonstrating how dominant health science approaches provide evidence for health promotion campaigns that are unlikely to reduce health disparities and may do more harm than good to Black women. We also demonstrate the existence of a problematic knowledge set about Black women’s reproductive and infant feeding practices that is both ahistorical and decontextualized.

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Alternate care sites during the COVID-19 pandemic: Policy Implications for pandemic surge planning

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness ◽

10.1017/dmp.2021.241 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Sue Anne Bell ◽

Lydia Krienke ◽

Kathryn Quanstrom

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Capacity Planning ◽

The United States ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Multiple Response ◽

Current Policy ◽

Surge Capacity ◽

Effective Care ◽

The Us ◽

Staffing Needs

Abstract Alternate care sites across the US were widely underutilized during the COVID-19 outbreak, while the volume and severity of COVID-19 cases overwhelmed health systems across the United States. The challenges presented by the pandemic have shown the need to design surge capacity principles with consideration for demand that strains multiple response capabilities. We reviewed current policy and previous literature from past ACS as well as highlight challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, to make recommendations that can inform future surge capacity planning. Our recommendations include: 1) Preparedness actions need to be continuous and flexible; 2) Staffing needs must be met as they arise with solutions that are specific to the pandemic; 3) Health equity must be a focus of ACS establishment and planning; and 4) ACS should be designed to function without compromising safe and effective care. A critical opportunity exists to identify improvements for future use of ACS in pandemics.

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