LOCALIZE IT: From birth to death, Black Americans struggle with health care system

APTOPIX Birth to Death Elders Alzheimer's (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

The Associated Press spent a year examining how racial health disparities have harmed generations of Black Americans.

From birth to death, Black Americans fare worse in measures of health compared to their white counterparts. They have higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, higher incidence of asthma during childhood, more difficulty treating mental health as teens, and greater rates of high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s disease and other illnesses as adults.

The AP is offering a package of stories that follows the story of Black Americans, from pregnancy to end of life, and the struggle for basic health care. Here are some tips and resources for localizing these stories.

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READ AP’S COVERAGE

— Why do so many Black women die in pregnancy? For one thing, doctors don’t take them seriously

— Black children are more likely to have asthma. A lot comes down to where they live

— Black kids face racism before they even start school. It’s driving a major mental health crisis

— In a nation plagued by high blood pressure, Black people are more likely to suffer from it

— Grieving the living: Black Americans more likely than white to develop Alzheimer’s

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HEAR FROM AP's REPORTER

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EMBEDDABLE GRAPHICS TO USE ON YOUR SITES: See EMBED-GRAPHICS-BIRTH TO DEATH, ADVISORY

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INSERT DATA FOR YOUR COMMUNITY

MATERNAL HEALTH

— Data based on information from birth certificates for all births in the United States, including information on preterm birth rates and other related metrics, is available using the CDC Wonder Natality data portal. The portal allows for filtering National Vital Statistics System data by state, county, rural/urban classification, maternal or paternal characteristics, pregnancy details and risk factors.

— Data based on information from death certificates for all deaths in the United States, including information on infant mortality and maternal mortality, is available using the CDC Wonder online databases (Underlying Cause of Death; Infant Deaths). The portal allows for filtering National Vital Statistics System data by state, county, rural/urban classification and demographics.

— A more accessible data portal for much of the same pregnancy-related data is available through March of Dimes Peristats. The online presentation allows for quick summaries by state as well as dropdown menus to query data on several birth-related topics. Topics included in the story: maternal mortality rates, preterm birth rates, infant mortality rates, and rates of delivery by C-section.

— Included in the story is a maternal health metric calculated by the March of Dimes using the Area Health Resource Files from the Health Resources & Service Administration. Find additional data related to maternal health care deserts in the latest March of Dimes report and interactive.

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ASTHMA

— The latest asthma prevalence data by state and demographic characteristics can be found on the CDC asthma surveillance data website, along with national prevalence and mortality numbers.

— Data based on information from death certificates for all deaths in the United States, including information on asthma mortality, is available using the CDC Wonder online databases (Underlying Cause of Death). The portal allows for filtering National Vital Statistics System data by state, county, rural/urban classification and demographics.

— Included in the story is a health and environment Child Opportunity Index calculated by diversitydatakids using federal government data. It is a composite index measured at the census tract level that captures neighborhood resources and conditions that matter for children’s healthy development in a single metric. The full index focuses on contemporary features of neighborhoods that are affecting children. It is based on 29 indicators spanning three domains: education, health and environment, and social and economic. Find additional data related to child opportunity in the latest diversitydatakids interactive.

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MENTAL HEALTH

— The most recent data related to counselors, enrollment and public schools is provided by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data program. Data is provided by state, county, or school district using the online table generator.

— For our story, additional data on enrollment by race and ethnicity was needed on a school-by-school basis, which is available through the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) program. The latest detailed data is from the 2017-2018 survey.

To find the total number of counselors, nurses, social workers or other staff in your school or district, find your school district or school, click on “Staffing and Finance,” click on “Teachers and Counselors” on the right-hand side.

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HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

— Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides weekly updates to national numbers for health conditions and contributing causes mentioned in conjunction with deaths involving COVID-19. The numbers are also given by year, month and age group.

— Data based on information from death certificates for all deaths in the United States, including information on COVID-19 and co-morbidities, is available using the CDC Wonder online databases (Underlying Cause of Death, Multiple Cause of Death). The portal allows for filtering National Vital Statistics System data by state, county, rural/urban classification and demographics.

The underlying cause of death is the condition that initiated the chain of events leading to death.

A contributing factor listed in the multiple cause of death database is not the underlying cause. It may have exacerbated an existing disease or it may have contributed in some way but it was not what initiated the chain of events leading to death. In our story, we limit deaths to those where the underlying cause of death was COVID-19 and hypertension was listed as a contributing factor.

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ALZHEIMER'S

— Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has Alzheimer’s Disease Mortality data by state available.

—The Alzheimer's Association released its 2023 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures report, a statistical resource for U.S. data related to Alzheimer's disease.

OTHER WAYS TO FOCUS ON YOUR COMMUNITY:

— Find a person or people in your community who has experienced challenges in getting medical help and talk to them about their story. Ask for specific instances of medical racism they’ve experienced. Also, ask about general experiences with doctors, whether they trust health care professionals, and if not, why.

— Talk to your local health care centers about how they combat these issues. Do they have a specific outreach program, or hospital liaison who can help families? What solutions have they found to make sure all patients are respected and treated fairly?

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OTHER STORIES IN THIS SERIES

— Medical racism in history causes health inequalities for Black Americans

— 5 takeaways from AP’s series on health disparities impacting Black Americans

Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.