Honoring Black History Month by Fighting Health Inequity

Wednesday, Feb 23, 2022

“There is no better way to celebrate someone than to keep them healthy,” shared Jaquetta Reeves, assistant professor at The University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation. Dr. Reeves was reflecting on the importance of Black History Month as it comes to a close this year, and how researchers and practitioners like her honor and support our Black communities.

The College of Nursing and Health Innovation asked Reeves to share with us some of her insight as a researcher focused on marginalized and underserved populations. She has been a family nurse practitioner for over 10 years, and a registered nurse for more than 20. Her area of expertise in clinical practice has been working in school-based health clinics servicing adolescent and young adult patients and focusing on health promotion, communicable disease prevention and patient education.

She is currently focused on research to address sexual health inequities and disparities among minority adolescent and young adult populations with a goal to improve their access to sexual reproductive health care and their sexual health outcomes.

A History of Health Disparities

“Historically, health disparities among people of color have deep roots in America. And racism and discrimination have significantly impacted the health and wellbeing and health outcomes of African American families,” shared Reeves.

The Jim Crow Era did not end until 1964 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Acts, but the Black community still did not have equal rights or equal opportunities. Many were still poor, unemployed, uninsured, living in poverty in poor infrastructure neighborhoods, not owning a home due to redlining, and unable to receive quality health care.

“It’s no surprise Blacks are at a disadvantage when it comes to health equity,” said Reeves. And this trend did not stop once Jim Crow laws ended. These societal issues and poor treatment has created an ongoing snowball effect. Even now during the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) African Americans are experiencing 2.6 times higher cases, 4.7 times higher hospitalization rates, and 2.1 times more death from COVID-19 compared to white counterparts.

Marginalized Populations & Sexual Health

Reeves’ research today is focused on the sexual and reproductive health care of underrepresented minorities. This topic, while often overshadowed in comparison to other health issues, is at epidemic levels with HIV and STI infection rates.

“There is a major sexual reproduction inequity in minority and underserved areas,” said Reeves. “My goal is to work closely with minority youth who live in those underserved areas. I want to learn from them and learn about their lived experience so that I can be a helpful resource to this patient population.”

She also recalls that in her observations, when comparing Black adolescents with their white counterparts, the most striking difference is access to resources. “The difference for Black and Hispanic students is they don’t have the resources. Even if their parents knew about an STI, they still often lack the resources and support necessary to address it in the community.”

Reeves described the need for these marginalized populations, that often live in urban areas, to have access to STI education, testing and clinical resources, and transportation. Her ultimate goal with her research is to help this population by knocking down their barriers to access to health care and ultimately decreasing the high rates of STI and HIV impacting our adolescents.

Raising the Bar on Health Equity

“The most effective way to spread knowledge and awareness is you need a platform. That’s what Black History Month can be for researchers, organizations, and the government in order to address the health disparities and health inequities affecting African Americans,” said Reeves.

Reeves lauds the many efforts already underway being made to address health disparities and health inequities within the Black community. In fact, this year the Department of Health and Human Services put out a 2022 fact sheet celebrating Black History Month, where they outlined ongoing efforts to make health care accessible and affordable and ensure an equitable pandemic response to improve health outcomes of Black communities.

One important example Reeves cites is the Centers for Disease Control launching “Ending the HIV and STI Epidemic in the U.S.” which has awarded millions of dollars to public health departments in every state, targeting minority communities, and reaching out to expand access to HIV and STI care, treatment, medication and essential support services. Also, there are funding opportunities for researchers to apply for grants and to collaborate with other researchers to apply for interdisciplinary team research grants.

“What a great way to celebrate Black History Month by raising the bar – raising the bar for health equity and working to make it a more equal platform for Black and other marginalized populations,” said Reeves.