Structural racism is a driver of health
disparities, report declares
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Take control of your physical and mental health
COURIER LIFE, FEBRUARY 18-24, 2022 25
BY THE AMERICAN HEART
ASSOCIATION
The nation’s history of
structural racism must be
acknowledged as a driver of
health problems and shortened
lives for Black people
and other racial and ethnic
groups, says an American
Heart Association report that
seeks to spark action to fi x the
problem.
The idea that racism adversely
affects an individual’s
health is not new, said Dr.
Keith Churchwell, president
of Yale New Haven Hospital,
who led the writing group for
the advisory. For example,
racism has been shown to lead
to stress, depression and longlasting,
cumulative damage to
the body and brain.
“Structural racism has
been and remains a fundamental
cause of persistent
health disparities in the
United States,” declares the
presidential advisory. It offers
a summary of the historical
context of structural discrimination,
connects it to current
health disparities and looks
for ways to dismantle or mitigate
its continuing effects.
Structural racism refers to
“the ways in which society is
set up in such a way that advantages
and opportunities
are preferentially given to
those of one race rather than
to another,” said co-author Dr.
Mitchell Elkind, immediate
past president of the American
Heart Association for
2021-22, a neurologist at New
York-Presbyterian/Columbia
University Irving Medical
Center in New York City. “We
have to change the underlying
structure that allows that to
happen.”
We know things like high
blood pressure, diabetes and
smoking lead to cardiovascular
disease, Elkind said. And
higher rates of those problems
in some groups lead to health
disparities. For example, Black
people in the United States are
much more likely to die from
heart disease or stroke than
their white counterparts.
Structural racism is “an important,
fundamental driver”
of such differences, he said.
Which means doctors, scientists,
policymakers and others
have a role in addressing it.
“The consequences of racism
in the past persist in such
a way that certain racial and
ethnic groups still live in poor
neighborhoods that have less
green space, that have poor
air quality, have a more dangerous
environment that may
preclude exercise and healthy
behaviors, may have less nutritious
food options, and certainly
suboptimal educational
experiences,” Elkind said.
“These things have not gone
away.”
The American Heart Association
is committed to advancing
health equity – which
can exist only when all people
can have the opportunity to
enjoy healthier lives. We’re
removing barriers to health
through work in communities,
scientifi c research, advocating
for healthy policies and
more. Please join us on this
critical journey.
For information about the
American Heart Association’s
commitment to health equity
please visit heart.org/healthequity
BY THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
This February, during Black History
Month, the American Heart Association
is encouraging Black women to
Reclaim Your Rhythm and take control
of their mental and physical well-being.
For years we’ve been striving to ensure
everyone has an optimal, just opportunity
to be healthy. But this is not
the reality for many people of color and
others whose health suffers because of
social factors beyond their control.
In fact, in New York City, people in
some under-resourced ZIP codes have
shorter life expectancies than their
neighbors just a few miles away. And
around the country, people in oftenremote
rural areas face signifi cantly
higher death rates from heart disease
and stroke.
COVID-19 has illuminated these unacceptable
health disparities and worsened
the problems. The pandemic and
economic hardships have disproportionately
harmed the health of Black,
Latino and Native American people.
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Black History Month