This research project received funding through the 2023 Institute for Diversity Science Seed Grant Program
Primary Investigator: Linda Denise Oakley, Louis J. and Phyllis Clark Jacobs Professor in Mental Health, School of Nursing, UW–Madison
Co-Investigator: Sarah Hughes, Public Health Supervisor, Public Health Madison and Dane County
Abstract:
Can community-based public health nurses (CBPHN) partner with a marginalized Black community to co-create a community of care to promote health equity?
Health equity means everyone can seek optimal health. Health equity also requires honesty in health education, training, and research (Cooke, et al., 2021).
Today, the colonial structures and social systems built to marginalize, dehumanize, and defend economic exploitation of Black people are called inequities (Chandanabhumma & Narasimhan, 2020).
The inequities that socially determine the health and wellbeing of Black communities include air pollution, food deserts, substandard housing, unemployment, and school closures.
Consequently, marginalization exposes individuals and communities to inflammatory stress shown to associated with high rates of despair, sickness, and death regardless of age, gender, education, or income.
Stress related high blood pressure, a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease, in Black communities is complicated by three patterns, higher rates, younger onset, and poorer treatment outcomes.
The American Heart Association (AHA) response to the evidence is a multifactor psychological health model of heart health that can be community tailored (Levine, et al., 2021; Lloyd-Jones, et al., 2022).
The AHA model associates negative psychological health (e.g., stress), positive psychological health (e.g., optimism), and biobehavioral health processes (e.g., smoking) with lower cardiovascular risks, lower rates of cardiovascular disease, and fewer health complications. Researchers can tailor measurement of each domain for the community.
Our project is a feasibility study of tailoring the AHA model for Black communities coping with marginalizing inequities for implementation by Community Based Public Health Nurses (CBPHN).