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This study passage highlights the intricate, multifaceted nature of health outcomes and focuses specifically on the complex relationships between unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, chronic diseases, and COVID-19 deaths and serious illness. The authors of this study refer to this relationship as a “”syndemic.”” This study analyzes CDC surveillance data and U.S. maps to illustrate the overlapping prevalence of COVID-19 deaths, unhealthy behaviors, and chronic diseases, notably in the southeastern region of the country. The study highlights the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underserved communities, attributing it to social injustices. It underscores disparities in education, poverty, nutrition assistance, health insurance coverage, income inequality, and racial demographics, particularly affecting Black populations in the southeastern U.S.

This literature review explores the experiences of disabled healthcare workers and the impact that ableism has on their career development and well-being. Workplace ableism is common in professional settings and health care settings are no exception. The authors of this review argue that this pervasive ableism could be discouraging people with disabilities from considering careers in the medical field and that workplace discrimination and disability-unfriendly settings have negative impacts on the health of these providers.

This study examines racial and ethnic inequalities in postpartum depression and perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD) diagnoses and care. Past studies have revealed large differences in the rates at which people express symptoms of PPD and PMAD and the rates at which they receive diagnoses and mental health care. The authors of this study aimed to determine the role that race and ethnicity plays in these disparities. To do so they followed the perinatal journeys of several thousand women and discovered that while there were no significant differences in diagnosis by race / ethnicity, women of color were significantly less likely to receive mental health care than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. This data reflects the importance of destigmatizing perinatal mental health challenges and promoting equitable health care. Some of the authors recommendations include the creation of policies requiring PPD and PMAD screenings and reimbursement and trainings around culturally responsive care.

This research study explored whether residents living in historically redlined neighborhoods in New York City were at a higher risk for COVID-19 infection. Data revealed that zip code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) with higher proportions of black and Hispanic residents are associated with higher rates of COVID-19 infection. They also found that historically redlined ZCTAs had higher risks for COVID-19 infections, regardless of modern day economic privilege in the area. This study reminds readers that modern day health crises like the COVID pandemic cannot be regarded in isolation from SDoH and the history of racism.

This research study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air quality disparities in New York. Researchers found that during the lockdown in 2020, the disparity in air quality between census tracts with high and low shares of BIPOC in rural New York narrowed. This trend was not observed in urban areas of New York where the disparities in air quality persisted despite lockdown.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation formed the National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems in response to the health inequalities and insufficient cross-sector data-sharing capabilities that characterize the American health care system. The 16-member Commission, comprised of experts from the healthcare, community advocacy, business, government, and public health spaces, was tasked with examining the data and data-sharing systems needed to ensure a public health system that is representative of the situations and needs of all Americans. In a report published in 2021, the Commissions put forth a series of recommendations focused on the need to remedy the current disconnect between data on health inequalities and the history and social conditions that shape poor health outcomes to begin with.

This study seeks to understand the unique experiences of gay and bisexual men who live in culturally conservative, rural communities and the implications of these experiences for the provision of health care. Researchers administered qualitative interviews to 44 individuals to determine the ways that their environments impacted their health and social behaviors. Results of this study revealed the powerful role that stigma plays in inhibiting access to health care and social support networks. The authors emphasize the need for greater discussion and awareness campaigns around stigma as an etiologic factor that impacts the health and well-being of rural gay and bisexual men. This is especially important in light of the fact that the incidence of HIV in America is particularly prevalent in rural communities where there are dispersed populations, fewer health care resources, and a lack of culturally responsive providers that understand the needs of stigmatized populations.

This study examines the role that family physicians play in maternity care in rural communities across the US. Authors collected data from 185 rural hospitals and found that family physicians delivered babies in 67% of these hospitals and were the only doctors doing so in 27% of these hospitals. The results of this study reveal the importance of family physicians in providing maternal health care in rural America. The study’s authors stress the importance of adequate maternal care training for future family physicians who intend to practice in rural location during their residency training.

This model program, called Project ECHO, leverages technology to share knowledge across a wide network of disease-specific consultants and rural healthcare teams. In regular virtual meetings program participants learn from and alongside each other while also providing direct patient care, with the ultimate goal of  gaining crucial knowledge on how to assess and treat common medical conditions with complex treatment plans. The pilot program, run by Dr. Sanjeev Arora in his liver clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, saw the hepatitis C clinic wait list decrease from 8 months to 2 weeks, proving the efficacy of this innovative “telementoring” approach to tackling medical management knowledge gaps in rural and underserved areas. In 2016 Congress passed the “ECHO Act,” enriching Project ECHO as a national model for Health care collaboration in rural and underserved areas.

This study assessed differences in COVID-19 cases and mortality rates in traditional nursing homes and Green Houses. Green Houses are smaller, more intimate residential living environments that promote personalized care and more tight-knit communities of residents and care givers. Using CMS data, researchers found that, adjusting for age, gender, and disability status, small and large nursing homes had higher COVID-19 cases and mortality rates compared to Green Houses.