{"id":13996,"date":"2023-04-24T11:51:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T16:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swopehealth.org\/?p=13996"},"modified":"2024-02-05T06:19:46","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T12:19:46","slug":"swope-health-supports-minority-health-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swopehealth.org\/swope-health-supports-minority-health-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Swope Health supports Minority Health Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every April is National Minority Health Month<\/a>, as proclaimed by the federal government\u2019s Health and Human Services agency.\u00a0 The recognition is designed to highlight the importance of improving the health of racial and ethnic minorities, and to focus on combatting health injustices.<\/p>\n

Swope Health works to address health injustices daily, actively breaking down barriers to healthcare. Swope Health is an advocate for quality healthcare for all.<\/p>\n

The theme for this year\u2019s celebration is Better Health Through Better Understanding<\/strong>.\"\"<\/p>\n

This celebration has its roots with Booker T. Washington, educator, civil rights advocate and author, who called for a National Negro Health Week<\/a> in 1915. His campaign to bring awareness to health disparities lasted until 1951.<\/p>\n

The federal government in 2002 launched the current designation of National Minority Health Month<\/a>, \u00a0to promote \u201ceducational efforts on the health problems currently facing minorities and other health disparity populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the National Institutes of Health\u2019s Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities<\/a> works to lead scientific research to improve minority health and reduce health disparities.<\/p>\n

Why a national focus?<\/strong> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes a growing body of evidence that racial and ethnic minority groups experience higher rates of illness and death across a wide range of health conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma, and heart disease, when compared to their White counterparts.<\/p>\n

The life expectancy of non-Hispanic\/Black Americans is four years lower than that of White Americans. Additionally, in the COVID-19 pandemic, research showed<\/a> members of racial and ethnic minority groups had higher rates of COVID-19 and more severe cases than White populations. These disproportionate impacts are examples of health disparities.<\/p>\n

These disparities are preventable. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

What\u2019s the cause?<\/strong> According to the NIH,<\/a> \u201cAchieving health equity for all in the U.S. will require dismantling this country\u2019s historical legacy of structural racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CDC<\/a> offers a suggestion: \u201cCommunities can prevent health disparities when community- and faith-based organizations, employers, healthcare systems and providers, public health agencies, and policymakers work together to develop policies, programs, and systems based on a health equity framework and community needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is why Swope Health works to address social drivers of healthcare.<\/strong> Some examples of our work:<\/p>\n