Community Engagement of African Americans in the Era of COVID-19: Considerations, Challenges, Implications, and Recommendations for Public Health

13.D. Workshop: SDGs in the focus of environmental and health issues

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.648 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

◽

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Climate Change ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Community Engagement ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Health Issues ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

The World ◽

Environmental And Health Issues ◽

The Impact

Abstract This workshop is dedicated on SDGs in the focus of environmental and health issues, as very important and actual topic. One of the characteristics of today's societies is the significant availability of modern technologies. Over 5 billion (about 67%) people have a cellphone today. More than 4.5 billion people worldwide use the Internet, close to 60% of the total population. At the same time, one third of the people in the world does not have access to safe drinking water and half of the population does not have access to safe sanitation. The WHO at UN warns of severe inequalities in access to water and hygiene. Air, essential to life, is a leading risk due to ubiquitous pollution and contributes to the global disease burden (7 million deaths per year). Air pollution is a consequence of traffic and industry, but also of demographic trends and other human activities. Food availability reflects global inequality, famine eradication being one of the SDGs. The WHO warns of the urgency. As technology progresses, social inequality grows, the gap widens, and the environment continues to suffer. Furthermore, the social environment in societies is “ruffled” and does not appear to be beneficial toward well-being. New inequalities are emerging in the availability of technology, climate change, education. The achievement reports on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also point out to the need of reviewing individual indicators. According to the Sustainable Development Agenda, one of the goals is to reduce inequalities, and environmental health is faced by several specific goals. The Global Burden of Disease is the most comprehensive effort to date to measure epidemiological levels and trends worldwide. It is the product of a global research collaborative and quantifies the impact of hundreds of diseases, injuries, and risk factors in countries around the world. This workshop will also discuss Urban Health as a Complex System in the light of SDGs. Climate Change, Public Health impacts and the role of the new digital technologies is also important topic which is contributing to SDG3, improving health, to SDG4, allowing to provide distance health education at relatively low cost and to SDG 13, by reducing the CO2 footprint. Community Engagement can both empower vulnerable populations (so reducing inequalities) and identify the prior environmental issues to be addressed. The aim was to search for public health programs using Community Engagement tools in healthy environment building towards achievement of SDGs. Key messages Health professionals are involved in the overall process of transformation necessary to achieve the SDGs. Health professionals should be proactive and contribute to the transformation leading to better health for the environment, and thus for the human population.

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Institutional Distrust among African Americans and Building Trustworthiness in the COVID-19 Response: Implications for Ethical Public Health Practice

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved ◽

10.1353/hpu.2021.0010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 90-98

Author(s):

Alicia L. Best ◽

Faith E. Fletcher ◽

Mika Kadono ◽

Rueben C. Warren

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

African Americans ◽

Public Health Practice ◽

Health Practice

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Consequences of a match made in hell: the harm caused by menthol smoking to the African American population over 1980–2018

Tobacco Control ◽

10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056748 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. tobaccocontrol-2021-056748 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David Mendez ◽

Thuy T T Le

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

African American ◽

African Americans ◽

Smoking Initiation ◽

African American Community ◽

American Population ◽

The Public ◽

African American Population ◽

Menthol Cigarettes ◽

Life Years

BackgroundFor many years, national surveys have shown a consistently disproportionately high prevalence of menthol smokers among African Americans compared with the general population. However, to our knowledge, no prior study has quantified the harm that menthol smoking has caused on that population. In this work, we estimate the public health harm that menthol cigarettes have caused to the African American community over the last four decades.MethodsUsing National Health Interview Survey data, we employed a well-established simulation model to reproduce the observed smoking trajectory over 1980–2018 in the African American population. Then, we repeat the experiment, removing the effects of menthol on the smoking initiation and cessation rates over that period, obtaining a new hypothetical smoking trajectory. Finally, we compared both scenarios to calculate the public health harm attributable to menthol cigarettes over 1980–2018.ResultsOur results show that menthol cigarettes were responsible for 1.5 million new smokers, 157 000 smoking-related premature deaths and 1.5 million life-years lost among African Americans over 1980–2018. While African Americans constitute 12% of the total US population, these figures represent, respectively, a staggering 15%, 41% and 50% of the total menthol-related harm.DiscussionOur results show that menthol cigarettes disproportionally harmed African Americans significantly over the last 38 years and are responsible for exacerbating health disparities among that population. Removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit the overall US population but, particularly, the African American community.

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High-intensity exercise to promote accelerated improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness (HI-PACE): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

10.21203/rs.2.380/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Joshua E. McGee ◽

Savanna G. Barefoot ◽

Nicole R. Gniewek ◽

Patricia M. Brophy ◽

Angela Clark ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Type 2 Diabetes ◽

African Americans ◽

Aerobic Exercise ◽

Cardiorespiratory Fitness ◽

High Intensity ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

High Intensity Exercise ◽

Moderate Intensity

Abstract Background African Americans have a disproportionate prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes compared to Caucasians. Recent evidence indicates low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) level, an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes, is also more prevalent in African Americans than Caucasians. Numerous studies in Caucasian populations suggest vigorous exercise intensity may promote greater improvements in CRF and other type 2 diabetes risk factors (e.g. reduction of glucose/insulin levels, pulse wave velocity, body fat, etc.) than moderate intensity. However, current evidence comparing health benefits of different aerobic exercise intensities on type 2 diabetes risk factors in African Americans is negligible. This is clinically important as African Americans have a greater risk for type 2 diabetes and are less likely to meet public health recommendations for physical activity than Caucasians. The purpose of the High-Intensity exercise to Promote Accelerated improvements in CardiorEspiratory fitness (HI-PACE) study is to evaluate whether high-intensity aerobic exercise elicits greater improvements in CRF, insulin action, and arterial stiffness than moderate-intensity exercise in African Americans. Methods/Design A randomized controlled trial will be performed on overweight and obese (body mass index: 25-45 kg/m2) African Americans (35-65 years) (n=60). Participants will be randomized to moderate-intensity (MOD-INT) or high-intensity (HIGH-INT) aerobic exercise training, or a non-exercise control group (CON) for 24 weeks. Supervised exercise will be performed at a heart rate associated with 45-55% and 70-80% of VO2 max in the MOD-INT and the HIGH-INT groups, respectively, for an exercise dose of 600 MET-minutes/week (consistent with public health recommendations). The primary outcome is change in CRF. Secondary outcomes include change in insulin sensitivity (measured via an intravenous glucose tolerance test), skeletal muscle mitochondrial oxidative capacity (via near infrared spectroscopy), skeletal muscle measurements (i.e. citrate synthase, COX IV, GLUT-4, CPT-1, PGC1-α), arterial stiffness (via carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity), body fat, C-reactive protein, and psychological outcomes (quality of life/exercise enjoyment). Discussion The anticipated results of the HI-PACE study will provide vital information on the health effects of high-intensity exercise in African Americans. This study will advance health disparity research and has the potential to influence future public health guidelines for physical activity. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02892331. Registered on 8 September 2016, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02892331

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Should there be a Mandate to Consistently and Systematically Report Asthma Occurrences within Minority-Underserved Communities in the State of Mississippi?

The International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention ◽

10.18535/ijsshi/v6i3.03 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 5355-5364

Author(s):

Lolita D Gray ◽

Ananda Collins

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

African Americans ◽

Effective Treatment ◽

Adult Population ◽

The State ◽

Newly Diagnosed ◽

Underserved Communities ◽

Current Asthma ◽

Current Prevalence ◽

Critical Public Health

The epidemic of asthma has become one of the most critical public health threats within the state of Mississippi. In Mississippi, the most current prevalence of adult asthma is 12.0% for lifetime asthma and 8.6% for current asthma. Among African-Americans, the adult population represents the leading rates in overall asthma burden, with the highest percent of adult lifetime asthma being 14.6% and current asthma being 11.0%. This study asserts that a mandate to systematically and consistently report newly diagnosed cases of asthma among minority-underserved communities can provide a pathway to decrease this asthma disparity, effective treatment, and healthier lives. Based upon the findings, the participants, overall, agree that asthma disproportionately occurs among minority-underserved communities; and, mandated systematic and consistent reporting should be implemented. Additionally, these actions can lead to a decrease in this asthma disparity, an implementation of targeted public policies, effective treatment and a pathway to healthier lives.

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