Prioritizing Black Health and Wellness

The theme for this year’s Black History Month is Black Health and Wellness. This year’s theme acknowledges Black scholars and trailblazers in the medical field, including health and wellness practitioners like midwives and herbalists in the African diaspora.  

As another Black History Month rolls in while living through this pandemic, it has become critical to utilize and reinforce the voices of individuals who navigate the spaces between health sciences and race. The inequities in testing, vaccine access, and even death rates across racial and ethnic groups highlight gaps in accessing health care. Acknowledging the success and stories of Black professionals in the health field serves as a reminder of those who stand unwavering in their identities and are champions for Black Americans despite historic social injustices. 

Why Black Health is Important. 

Structural racism tied into Black communities can often affect Black people's access to health insurance and even urgent healthcare treatment. Black people often experience zero to lower-quality health care compared with white Americans, and are more likely to die prematurely from preventable diseases including diabetes, strokes, and recently, COVID-19. The outcome of these experiences alienates Black patients and fosters avoidance of the healthcare system unless absolutely necessary. 

Black health is important during this time as we seek to educate and inspire more young Black people to enter this field and disrupt the flow of prejudice built into healthcare systems. This is a call to help foster good health and wellness in the Black community through social support, determination, and hard work. As we are in the presence of a global health crisis, and a large surge of anti-racist professional training, Black people should be able to prioritize their health without feeling uncared for and facing further racial inequities before, during, or after treatment. 

Expanding Quality Healthcare for Black Women. 

As we work to increase education, housing, and employment opportunities in Black communities, Black people are met with yet another barrier when receiving healthcare services. Without a blockage due to insurance or income, still, Black people are not receiving the same quality of health care as white people in medical healthcare systems. Not only is the system occupied by racial bias and belief that disproportionately affect Black people, but physicians may also be inclined to harbor these beliefs consciously and even unconsciously into their practice.  

Specifically, Black mothers experience more complications during birth and suffer heftier mortality rates. Black mothers are three times more likely to die after birth than white mothers. Often, doctors invalidate concerns of expecting mothers and are even more likely to fail to listen to Black mothers. As providers, Black women working in healthcare instill compassion and anti-racist thinking that is immeasurable across the medical institutions they reside. Black physicians can more easily establish trusting connections with Black patients that white doctors commonly dismiss. As patients, Black mothers deserve physicians that can relate to and understand cultural aspects such as foods they eat and restore a sense of trust in healthcare services.  

Why is it important to highlight Black Health Practitioners? 

Now, more than ever, Black people are searching for Black doctors. Black people searching for medical care desire to find, afford and feel comfortable with health practitioners while treated and examined. While there is hope for mainstream institutions to break down systematic racial biases, there are a lot of Black networks making progress. Highlighting the efforts made by Black medical scholars and specialists strengthens awareness fort future generations of health providers to remain comprehensive, unbiased, trustworthy, and efficient to aid the Black community. 

Breana Alston is a student at Virginia Commonwealth University studying criminal justice and psychology. Her passion for these concepts influences her to utilize her voice to expose institutionalized racism and promote social equality for marginalized people.