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The article examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CDC-funded sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) prevention programs in the United States using the results of a survey administered to 59 CDC-funded STD programs. It highlights disruptions in STD testing, treatment, and prevention services due to COVID-19-related restrictions and resource shifts. The study findings reveal a significant decline in STD testing and case reports, and a shift toward telehealth services during the pandemic. Moreover, there was reduced availability of STD prevention interventions such as condom distribution and permanent reassignments of disease intervention specialist staff. The article emphasizes the need for sustained investment and flexibility in STD prevention programs to address the long-term consequences of the pandemic on sexual health services.

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 assessed the efficacy of a text and phone based screening and referral program for perinatal mental health disorders and substance use disorders (SUDs). Research found that participants who had been assigned to the phone-based screening program were 3 times more likely to screen positive, 4 times more likely to be referred to treatment, and nearly 6 times more likely to attend treatment appointments compared to participants assigned to the control group.

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 article discusses COVID-19’s impact on rates of breast cancer screening in the United States and the inequalities that revealed themselves regarding screening mammography access across the country. In the spring of 2020, breast cancer screenings, which are a key tool used to detect and mitigate the effects of breast cancer, came to a halt. In the years since, troubling patterns have emerged regarding which communities have access to these screenings and which do not. The authors of this paper cite several studies including one showing a greater decreases in screening volumes during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Black, Latina, and Asian women compared to White women and another revealing slower returns to baseline rates of mammography for Native American, Asian, and Latina women compared to White women. The authors of this paper argue that these disparities are consequential and serve as further evidence of persisting health inequalities and unequal access to medical care. They go on to suggest a potential framework for solutions that involves a multifaceted approach that addresses disparities at the individual, health system, and policy levels. They emphasize that quality measures are the critical first step towards identifying and hopefully remedying deficits like the one seen in breast cancer screening rates.

The nonprofit Center for Open Data Enterprise and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) convened the Roundtable on Sharing and Utilizing Health Data for AI Applications in 2019. These discussions identified five high-level applications of AI in healthcare. First, AI automation tools can be utilized to improve clinician and administrative workflows and reduce the costs and administrative burden of manual data entry and billing processes. AI is also a valuable tool that can be used to connect patients with available health and social service resources, especially in rural areas. Researchers can use AI to inform and advance population health management by synthesizing data to tell clearer stories about the prevalence and incidence of different diseases. AI has the potential to be a revolutionary tool in the medical diagnosis space. Lastly, AI can aid in the development of new drugs throughout the entire cycle, from matching clinical trial participants to appropriate trials to contributing to precision medicine research. Importantly, the report emphasizes the dependence of all these promising AI applications on the widespread sharing of high-quality, clean, and accurate data.

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 op-ed discusses the minimal progress that has been made towards understanding the causes and treatment of long COVID. The main crux of the author’s argument is that long COVID is essentially the same condition as post-infectious syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Thus, long COVID is actually not a new condition, but rather something triggered by acute COVID in the same way that many other illnesses can trigger ME/CFS in individuals. ME/CFS itself is not well-understood, but the years of research and patient experiences with the condition could be applied to the body of long COVID research for the advancement of both causes.