Last week the Ohio Department of Health released the latest report on maternal mortality in Ohio, A Report on Pregnancy-Related Deaths in Ohio 2017-2018. There is a lot to unpack in the report and we’ll spend more time with the details in the coming weeks. However, we identified some key data points that should be...
Weathering ages and harms people of color
Activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked tirelessly to ensure marginalized individuals obtain civil rights but are often gone too soon to realize the impact they have made in society. Dr. King was assassinated at 39 years old, but when pathologists completed his autopsy, they reported that his heart looked like one of a...
Community Based Policing Approach to Bias Backed by Lakewood Community Health Needs Assessment Results
By John R. Corlett, President and Executive Director Alex Dorman, Research Fellow City of Lakewood Mayor Megan George announced in May that Lakewood would be implementing the Safe Place Initiative. It’s a community-based approach to safety and policing developed first by the Seattle Police Department in 2015 that seeks to assist victims of hate crimes,...
Reclaiming our heritage: How Juneteenth sparked a return to our roots
By: Natasha Takyi-Micah, Public Policy & External Affairs Associate and Kyle Thompson, Policy Assistant Connecting with my family in America: Kyle Thompson In my day-to-day work, I spend a large amount of time researching and understanding disparities that impact Ohioans through research, advocacy, and writing. Working with colleagues to address maternal mortality, behavioral health, or...
Origins of self-care and why activists and advocates need to practice it
We live in a highly stressed society in the United States. According to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll, adults mainly cited violence and crime (75 percent), inflation (83 percent) and the political climate (66 percent) as major sources of stress. Another significant source of stress is the current racial climate (62 percent). This...
Racism in Medical Journals: An Interview with Dr. Faye Gary
My colleague, Taneisha Fair, recently opened a conversation on racism in medical journals. As a follow-up, I spoke with an expert in publishing on psychiatric nursing and vulnerable populations. Dr. Faye Gary, an expert in psychiatric nursing, has built her career on advocating for vulnerable populations, including Black women. As a Black woman herself, she...
Racism as a Public Health Crisis: Examining Racism in Medical Journals
We’ve written about the steps that can be taken by institutions to help end racism as a public health crisis. One prevalent issue that must be addressed in that process is the failure to examine racism in medical journals and publish health research that reports on its impacts. Health Affairs published a report in 2021...
Eight Cleveland Community Champions to know in Black History Month
Placing an in-depth focus on community is one of my favorite tasks. Meeting people and learning about their efforts to make our collective lives better honestly feeds hope. In recognition of Black History Month, I invite you to meet some amazing Community Champions. There were no algorithms, in-depth searches, or analyses for this list. Our...