Race and Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Genetics Studies Have a Diversity Problem That Researchers Struggle To Fix

KFF Health News Original

Researchers in Charleston, South Carolina, are trying to build a DNA database of 100,000 people to better understand how genetics affects health risks. But they’re struggling to recruit enough Black participants.

In San Francisco’s Chinatown, a CEO Works With the Community To Bolster Hospital

KFF Health News Original

Jian Zhang, an immigrant from China with a doctorate in nursing, leads the 88-bed Chinese Hospital in San Francisco. The facility faces financial constraints like other independent hospitals, but its strong community support and partnerships have helped it weather tough times.

Native Americans Have Shorter Life Spans. Better Health Care Isn’t the Only Answer.

KFF Health News Original

Social services, such as parenting classes and economic development programs, can help increase the life spans of Native Americans, some health experts say. But insurers don’t always cover these services.

Médicos de atención primaria asumen tareas de dentista para ayudar a pacientes vulnerables

KFF Health News Original

En Denver, la inestabilidad de la vivienda, las barreras del idioma, la falta de transporte y el “costo astronómico” de la odontología sin seguro hacen que la atención dental sea inaccesible para muchos nuevos inmigrantes.

City-Country Mortality Gap Widens Amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access

KFF Health News Original

People in their prime working years living in rural America are 43% more likely to die of natural causes, like diseases, than their urban counterparts, a disparity that grew rapidly in recent decades, according to a new federal report.

Dietary Choices Are Linked to Higher Rates of Preeclampsia Among Latinas

KFF Health News Original

Researchers at the USC Keck School of Medicine found that Latinas who ate vegetables, fruits, and healthy oils-based foods had fewer incidences of preeclampsia. More research is needed to determine the exact diet that could be beneficial.

El tipo de alimentación está vinculado a tasas más altas de preeclampsia en latinas

KFF Health News Original

No hay una forma de curar o predecir la preeclampsia. La enfermedad puede dañar el corazón y el hígado, y causar otras complicaciones tanto para la madre como para el bebé, incluido el parto prematuro e incluso la muerte.

California’s Expanded Health Coverage for Immigrants Collides With Medicaid Reviews

KFF Health News Original

A state policy to extend Medi-Cal to qualified Californians without legal residency is running up against a federal requirement to resume eligibility checks. The redetermination process is causing many Latinos, who make up a majority of Medi-Cal beneficiaries, to be disenrolled.

Rapid Rise in Syphilis Hits Native Americans Hardest

KFF Health News Original

With U.S. syphilis rates climbing to the worst level in seven decades, public health experts and the federal Indian Health Service are scrambling to detect and treat the disease in Native American communities, where babies are infected at a higher rate than in any other demographic.

Watch: Many Americans Are Unaware of HIV Prevention Medication

KFF Health News Original

Some Americans mistakenly believe medication to prevent HIV transmission through sex is just for certain groups such as gay men, but anyone who’s at risk for contracting HIV through sex could benefit.

A New Orleans Neighborhood Confronts the Racist Legacy of a Toxic Stretch of Highway

KFF Health News Original

New federal funds aim to address an array of problems created by highway construction in minority neighborhoods. These are economic, social, and, perhaps above all, public health problems. In New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood, competing plans for how to deal with harm done by the Claiborne Expressway reveal the challenge of how to mitigate them meaningfully.

Why Even Public Health Experts Have Limited Insight Into Stopping Gun Violence in America

KFF Health News Original

After the 1996 Dickey Amendment halted federal spending on research into firearms risks, a small group of academics pressed on, with little money or political support, to document the nation’s growing gun violence problem and start to understand what can be done to curb the public health crisis.

FDA’s Plan to Ban Hair Relaxer Chemical Called Too Little, Too Late

KFF Health News Original

The FDA’s recent notice that it would move to ban formaldehyde in hair-straightening products comes more than a decade after researchers raised alarms about health risks. Scientists say a ban would still leave many dangerous chemicals in hair straighteners.

Native American Communities Have the Highest Suicide Rates, Yet Interventions Are Scarce

KFF Health News Original

Native Americans die by suicide at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group, yet research into effective and culturally appropriate interventions is uncommon.