Category: Health Equity

Mission Possible: Achieving Health Equity through Inclusive Public Health Practice

This month, we recognize the 28th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the most comprehensive federal disability rights law that helps to ensure equal access.  On a beautiful spring morning, with the air crisp and the sun gently beaming down a father gathers a backpack of daily essentials and maneuvers his wheelchair towards Read More >

Posted on by Allison Hoit Tubbs, MS, CHES, Project Coordinator, NCHPAD1 Comment

Mission Possible: Too Heavy a Burden: Thoughts on the Impact of Violence Disparities Experienced by African Americans

Two boys running together on street with sun back light, toned image

I have fond childhood memories of spending Saturdays riding my bike purposefully through my neighborhood. There was nothing better than a sunny day that created the canvas for the perfect adventure-stopping at the library to check out a new book, getting a fresh pastry from the local bakery, and venturing across the neighborhood to walk Read More >

Posted on by Kameron J. Sheats, Ph.D.3 Comments

Mission Possible: Protect Yourself From Secondhand Smoke

One in five employed U.S. adult nonsmokers are exposed to secondhand smoke at work, and exposure is higher among certain racial and ethnic groups, including American Indians/Alaska Natives. Wouldn’t it be great if all American employees enjoyed a smokefree workplace? I often think about this as director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. At Read More >

Posted on by Corinne Graffunder, DrPH, MPH3 Comments

Mission Possible: Treat Me Right

treat me right campaign logo

  In the fall of 1999, in preparation for the launch of The National Plan to Eliminate Syphilis from the United States, I was asked to draft a letter to the survivors of the U.S. Public Health Service Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, or the Tuskegee Study as it is usually Read More >

Posted on by Jo A. Valentine, MSW2 Comments

Mission Possible: Celebrating Women’s Strength and Persistence

  Over the weekend, I attended a women’s day event. The event’s speaker shared a personal story about her mother’s near fatal car accident and how on the day of the accident the doctors tried to prepare her family for the worst. Her mother’s prognosis for survival was bleak and if she survived, she would Read More >

Posted on by Pattie Tucker, BSN, MPH, DrPH1 Comment

Mission Possible: Addressing Health Disparities in Heart Disease and Stroke Outcomes

As the leading killer of Americans, heart disease and its associated behavioral causes are distributed throughout our country. Even so, some groups of people are more affected than others. Poverty and lack of education have long been associated with poorer health status and heart disease is no exception, occurring more frequently among people with lower Read More >

Posted on by Ursula Bauer, PhD, MPH and Betsy L. Thompson, MD, MSPH, DrPH9 Comments

Mission Possible: Healthy Lives for Everyone

Mission: Possible design element

Last fall, one of my friends launched a monthly blog that chronicles her life and that of seven of her friends. They journeyed through the Civil Rights Movement and the transition of a once highly segregated and deeply divided city in the south to experience much of the promise of America. The blogs foretell what Read More >

Posted on by Leandris C. Liburd, PhD, MPH, MA8 Comments

Sickle Cell Disease in the Emergency Department: Confronting Barriers to Care

“You’re too pretty to have a disease,” declared the nurse in the emergency department (ED) dismissing Constance Benson’s reports of unbearable pain, a byproduct of her sickle cell disease (SCD). Constance, who is in her late twenties, is a professional actress and model living in Kennesaw, GA. It wasn’t until Constance’s blood tests came back Read More >

Posted on by Guest Bloggers: Mary Hulihan, MPH, DrPH and Mandip Kaur, MPH7 Comments

African Americans and Tobacco Use

man breaking a cigarette in half

My cousin has a dear friend named Paul who is African American and a smoker. The few times I’ve been in Paul’s company, he could barely go two hours without lighting up a cigarette. I remember once while we were waiting to be seated at a restaurant, he stayed outside and smoked until our table Read More >

Posted on by Leandris C. Liburd, PhD, MPH, MA13 Comments

Confronting Cancer with Courage, Confidence, and a Caring Community

Arrow with Cancer, Hope, Health and related words.

Overcast skies and a light drizzle of rain followed Charlotte as she returned to the doctor’s office to find out the results of the needle biopsy of her left breast. So confident that the “white spot” on the mammogram film reflected a small deposit of benign (noncancerous) calcium deposits, she didn’t even consider asking any Read More >

Posted on by Leandris C. Liburd, PhD, MPH, MA4 Comments