Guest speaker Dr. Josy Hahn gave an informative lecture on racial equity and social determinants of health. Dr. Hahn engaged in a group discussion on what were examples of equality and equity. The image of equality showed very little community resources and engagement for local communities. Furthermore, the image of equity showed various outputs for community engagement certain examples were access to hospitals and basic commodities. The main points used to identify the root problems of inequities in communities are policies that have created unbalanced power and privilege, Historical practices of exclusion and geographic concentration. Another important aspect of the presentation was the social determinants of health and how they vary by place and race. Social determinants of health differ in terms of places with higher or lower community engagement. In communities with greater resources a social determinant of health might be education as for in a community with low resources might have issues from an economic stand point.
One shocking fact mentioned in the meeting was the segregation that takes place in New York City. Based on the provided map of NYC the areas with a high poverty rate is also an area where a large population of people of color reside. The figure sums up one of the many root causes of inequities for which in this case would be exclusion and discrimination. Another key demographic would be the percentage of children under 18 who are in poverty. There was a higher percentage of black non Latinx, Latinx and Native American who suffered from poverty in comparison to white non- Latinx and Asian. In addition, the same groups had high poverty levels also had high incarcerations for males. The data collected sums up the many issues that are occurring within communities yet the same 3 races show higher numbers. Thus, raises the question on how to reduce these number so that we do not continue to fall under these social categories
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