We all get sick sooner or later, but data has proven some fare far worse than others. 

In Michigan alone, black Americans are more likely to die from heart disease than any other documented group. The infant mortality rate for black babies is twice that of any other racial group, and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the black community is a staggering three times the rate of anyone else.

Those points were shared at a spring event at Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) in downtown Detroit, hosted by the Health Funders Affinity Group: “InFocus: Southeast Michigan Health Disparities.” Two weeks ago, members and speakers from the InFocus event hosted another community health program in St. Joseph on the health effects of trauma by looking at racial disparities.

CMF member Lakeland Health Foundation brought Dr. David Williams of Harvard University, former appointee at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, to discuss the importance of using scientific evidence to show the biological consequences of racism. Dr. Williams referenced implicit bias, economic exploitation, social stigmatization and geographic marginalization among the many reasons that lead to racial disparities within health in the United States.

He showed the crowd that black men with a college degree still have a lower overall life expectancy than white men with only a high school diploma. Emphasizing the importance of place, Dr. Williams explained to the crowd that treating a patient of color for a medical condition and sending that person back into the same social settings which attributed to the condition is counterproductive and expensive.

In his example, Dr. Williams referenced poor housing conditions that lead to asthma. He said if a mother cannot afford better and has been unsuccessfully fighting her landlord on the quality of her housing conditions, she typically does not have funds to take legal action against her landlord to secure a safe home. Therefore, no matter how many times the doctor sees her child for asthma, the child will continue to become ill by returning to the same household that has not been repaired.

According to a study by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Altraum, Michigan could see a $92 billion gain in economic output by 2050 if racial disparities were eliminated.

In a May 2018 op-ed, La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, cited the foundation’s 2018 study The Business Case for Racial Equity-Michigan: A Strategy for Growth, saying economic gains would come in employment, income, educational attainment, home ownership and access to health coverage.

Even more, considering disparities in health through a racial equity lens would save more lives across racial backgrounds.

Bridget Hurd, senior director of diversity and inclusion, BCBS, said health professionals must acknowledge the gap in access to care, their own implicit biases and policies that inhibit certain populations.

While some organizations have made gestures for improvement among diversity, Hurd said there is still a long way to go for inclusion, specifically within data collection for health and human service affiliated organizations.

Demographic information, for example, is still unclear. Identification measures on medical forms typically have five racial identities listed: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and White. A person with Asian origins may descend from one of 10 countries but all are included in a single category. This exclusion of demographic data could be harmful for smaller populations.

Sheryl Weir, manager of health disparities reduction and minority health, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said everyone can’t be treated the same. She pushed for health professionals to discontinue generalizing groups of people to avoid unnecessary and systemic health inequities.

Weir challenged Michigan philanthropists to consider which children have access to resources based on neighborhoods, schools and parental lifestyle. She said these qualitative data points make a difference in the disparity.

These events allowed CMF members and health professionals to discuss dissolving gaps in health disparities. That work could include cross-sector collaboration through policy to address and promote health equity in Michigan. 

Want more?

Check out the W.K. Kellogg Foundation study The Business Case for Racial Equity-Michigan: A Strategy for Growth.

Learn more about the upcoming November 2018 InFocus event: Accessing Policy from an Equity Lens.