Race and Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Even With Senate Control, Democrats Will Need Buy-In From GOP on Key Health Priorities

KFF Health News Original

With a majority too small to eliminate the filibuster, Democrats will not have enough votes in the Senate to pass many of their plans without Republicans and will also have only a razor-thin majority in the House. This combination could doom many Democratic health care proposals, like offering Americans a government-sponsored public insurance option, and complicate efforts to pass further pandemic relief.

Black Women Find Healing (But Sometimes Racism, Too) in the Outdoors

KFF Health News Original

A Colorado woman formed an adventure group to encourage other Black women to enjoy the outdoors, and now it has chapters across the U.S. and Canada. Yet many Black adventure seekers say they often face racism when partaking in healthy outdoor activities.

Health Officials Fear Pandemic-Related Suicide Spike Among Native Youth

KFF Health News Original

Recent deaths on a small Native American reservation in Montana have underlined the heightened risks for Indigenous youths and how suicide prevention programs are struggling to operate during the pandemic.

Trusted Messengers May Help Disenfranchised Communities Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy

KFF Health News Original

Persuading vulnerable low-income and ethnic communities hit hard by the coronavirus to take a new vaccine may be challenging. But established local health leaders, like a group in Rochester, Minnesota, may be one answer.

Tracking COVID’s Spread Inside a Tight-Knit Latino Community

KFF Health News Original

Contact tracing for COVID-19 in a Latino immigrant community has some unique challenges. But as public health officials in Telluride, Colorado, are showing, using resources from inside those communities can help track and contain the coronavirus.

Amid COVID and Racial Unrest, Black Churches Put Faith in Mental Health Care

KFF Health News Original

Black Americans are less likely to receive mental health treatment than the overall population. But as needs soar this year, faith leaders are tapping health professionals to share coping skills churchgoers and the community can use immediately.

Family Mourns Man With Mental Illness Killed by Police and Calls for Change

KFF Health News Original

Like almost a quarter of the 989 people killed by police in the U.S. in the past 12 months, Ricardo Muñoz had a serious mental illness. “Instead of a cop just being there, there should have been other responders,” his sister says.

What Doctors Aren’t Always Taught: How to Spot Racism in Health Care

KFF Health News Original

Activists across the country are demanding that medical schools eliminate the use of race as a diagnostic tool, recognize how systemic racism harms patients and reckon with some of medicine’s racist history.

Black Hair Matters: How Going Natural Made Me Visible

KFF Health News Original

How do we as Black people protect ourselves from racism? In our household, my decision to let my hair go natural forced my father and me to have a conversation about personal safety, the police and my desire to feel free. He viewed my permed hair and weave as a protective shield that increased my chances of making it home safely. But, in reality, my haircut — long or short — can’t protect me from racism.

Poor and Minority Children With Food Allergies Overlooked and in Danger

KFF Health News Original

Having a child with a food allergy is terrifying for any parent, but for low-income families such allergies can be especially deadly. Food assistance programs and food pantries rarely take allergies into account. And access to specialists, support groups and lifesaving epinephrine can be hard to attain. This especially hurts low-income Black children, who have higher incidences of allergies to corn, wheat and soy than white kids.