Taking Action –The Boston Public Health Commission’s Efforts.ppt

Taking Action –The Boston Public Health Commission’s Efforts To Undo Racism Barbara Ferrer Ph.D., MPH Deputy Director Boston Public Health Commission Racial Disparities in Boston Health Issue Black White Asthma / Male 5-14 (Hosp) 6.4 1.7 Birth Weight (Less than 3.3lbs) 3.4% 1.0% Body Weight 63% 46.% Breast Cancer (Morality) 24.2 per 100,000 20.7 Cervical Cancer (Mortality) 8.4 per 100,000 2.2 Death Rate (Mortality) 1028.1 per 100,000 942.8 Diabetes (Mortality) 33 per 100,000 15.2 Health Insurance 11.5% 6.1% Heart Disease (Mortality) 224.8 per 100,000 230.6 High Blood Pressure 26.4% 16.6% HIV / AIDS (Mortality) 24.9 per 100,000 7.2 Homicide 19.7 2.5 Infant Mortality (Mortality) 13.6 per 1000 2.8 Hospitalization 155.3 per 1000 108.4 Lung Cancer (Mortality) 66.8 67.2 Prostate Cancer (Mortality) 71.4 per 100,000 27.5 Smoking during pregnancy 6.8% 9.4% Drug Related Mortality 11.7 13.0 Suicide (Mortality) 3.5 8.1 Teen Birth Rate 63.696 per 1000 10.242 Definition of Racism Any type of action or attitude, individual or institutional, which prescribes and legitimizes a minority group’s subordination by claiming that the minority group is biogenetically or culturally inferior. Racism Definition Race Prejudice + Power = Racism Prejudice defined as “a preconceived idea, usually one that is unfavorable” Levels of Racism Institutional - differential access to the goods services and opportunities of society by race. Personally-mediated - prejudice (differential assumptions about the abilities, motives and intentions of others based upon their race)and discrimination (differential actions toward others based upon race) Internalized - acceptance by members of the stigmatized races of negative messages about their own abilities and intrinsic worth. How Can Racism Affect Health Status? Differences in socio-economic status, exposures and stresses by “race” Differences in access to health care services Differences in diagnostic testing, treatme