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Avenues for Promoting Health Awareness in African Communities
Disparities in healthcare remain a serious problem in African American communities. The history of slavery and other social determinants like systemic racism and access to healthy foods undoubtedly underlie the inexcusably poor state of African American health. It is concerning that Blacks are the least healthy ethnic group, and with the lowest projected life expectancy at birth in the U.S. Further, conditions like hypertension and diabetes, which are risk factors for lower limb amputation, are most prevalent among Black and African Americans.
In 1984, Margaret Heckler, the Secretary of Health and Human Services at the time,provided a detailed review of disparities in healthcare as endured by Blacks and other minority ethnic groups, compared with whites. The report recommended that action be taken to eliminate the disparities, through health education,awareness, and access to healthcare.
Today, various healthcare players are at the forefront of the battle against health disparities. Government agencies,not-for-profit organizations, and healthcare professionals like podiatrists and vascular surgeons are creating avenues through which they can raise the levels of awareness and sensitivity to the issues concerning Black health among the African American population.
African Americans continue to suffer disproportionately from diseases that are risk factors for lower extremity amputation, including peripheral artery disease (PAD) and diabetes.But what are the various avenues that help deliver health promotion interventions among the African American populace? Below, we look at some of those.
Black-owned Barber Shops
Barbershops and hair salons have long imparted essential African American cultural constructs like expressiveness and communalism. These entrepreneurial establishments are highly accessible and have over the years been involved in health promotion activities, including formative research and implementation of interventions.
It is common for African American men to hang out at the barbershop for hours beyond their service visit. And because this group has been particularly difficult to target, barbershops have been seen as the perfect avenues for health promotion among African American men.
Black barbershops are powerful social institutions that are being used to raise awareness about the conditions that disproportionately affect Black men, including hypertension, diabetes, and prostate cancer. In a 2016 TED talk, Joseph Ravenell, M.D. suggested that barbershops can have a wide reach for Black and African American men and can be the perfect place to talk about the health issues that affect Black men.
In line with the efforts to fight health in equalities facing Black men in the U.S., Dr. Bill Releford, a renowned foot and ankle surgeon, has also founded a medical outreach service called The Black Barbershop. The Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program (BBHOP) has since its inception screened over 30,000 African American men for prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease.
By advocating dietary changes and exercise, BBHOP focuses on early detection and prevention of chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Using a secure telehealth platform on its website, Black people in under served and under-resourced communities can connect with a broad network of physicians across the country.What’s more, the platform offers a video-based app that remotely monitors patients’ vitals in real-time. BBHOP also leverages AI and cloud services through its mobile and tablet-based app to ensure that patients access timely and quality healthcare.
Faith-Based Organizations
Akin to barbershops and salons,faith-based organizations like churches and mosques are more than just religious institutions in African American communities. Particularly, Black churches have over the years acted as facilitators of health promotion programs. In fact,Black churches have throughout the 20th century promoted education, political activism, and business within Black communities.
In a study that investigated the role of the Black church in health promotion programs,most Black pastors stated that they try to have a holistic ministry – one that deals with the soul as well as the body. With physical well-being as one of the many facets that make people wholesome, the church can be a focal point and also an essential avenue in facilitating health promotion programs in Black communities.
African American faith-based organizations like churches continue to play a vital role in addressing health disparities. Through their collaboration with community health advisors,they can promote screening and help implement many other interventions. The opportunities to use technology are also likely to support and enhance the capacity of Black churches to sustain health-related programs and interventions.
County-Based Healthcare Programs
In light of the clear health disparities spurred by racial discrimination and other social determinants, the federal and state governments have created and funded programs to address these disparities. For instance, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services established the African American health program (AAHP) in 1999 to help tackle health disparities.
In their programming, the AAHP particularly focuses on cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, maternal and child health, oral health, mental health, and STI/HIV/AIDS. Their Health Promotion Classes are also a great avenue for African Americans living in Montgomery County, MD, to talk about and learn how to avert, manage, and reverse chronic conditions such as cancer,diabetes, heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia.
With the advent of COVID-19, AAHP took its Health Promotion Classes online. Attendees can now engage and learn through informal lectures, lively discussions, and Q&A sessions. AAHP nutritionists also demonstrate how to prepare healthy dishes. Through these classes, Black and African Americans in the county can also review their health goals and progress, including blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and weight management.
The Health Promotion Classes also include year-long health and fitness classes in which people can learn from trained exercise professionals how fitness can avert, manage, and reverse the risk for chronic diseases. Their Diabetes Prevention Program is designed for those with prediabetes or those at risk for type 2 diabetes. Generally, these classes help raise awareness about conditions that are risk factors for lower limb amputation.
Leveraging Advanced Technology for Amputation Prevention
The Wound Docs is a network of healthcare professionals such as podiatrists, vascular surgeons, and wound care specialists in the country. Besides bringing healthcare professionals together,The Wound Docs is leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced biologics(skin substitutes) for better results in wound care among Black and African American patients.
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