Area-based social determinants of health (SDOH), including neighborhood income and social deprivation, were independently associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes amo...

https://www.ajmc.com/view/area-level-sdoh-linked-to-worse-cardiovascular-outcomes-in-hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy#research #socialdeterminantsofhealth

Canada is always held up as being considerably better than the United States as far as racism goes*.

And while there are definitely little pockets where you can mostly not be irritated by racist assholes daily, the systemic issues are still the systemic issues.

This week, a report came out from the Black Women’s Institute for Health and Street Voices about the state of Black women's health in Canada.

https://bwhealthinstitute.com/voices-unheard/

There is an executive summary of sorts available at this link:

https://www.streetvoices.ca/news/voices-unheard-a-historic-report-reveals-the-urgent-state-of-black-womens-health-in-canada-977

❝
For the first time in Canadian history, nearly 2,000 Black women, girls, and gender-diverse people have come together to share their lived experiences navigating the health system — and what they expose is a national crisis that can no longer be ignored.
❞

I'd wager that it WILL, in fact, continue to be ignored, much like the Ontario Human Rights Commission's most recent report on anti-Black racism in the Toronto Police Service is the umpteenth report on anti-Black racism in the Toronto Police Service.
And it never actually goes away.

Canada is functionally two mining companies and a bank in a trench coat whose population likes to tell itself fairy tales about Its place in the world. Anything that undermines the collective state of suspended disbelief is touted as "anti-Canadian" or "racist against white people".

Which, I guess, means that reality itself is "racist against white people".

The PDF of the report itself is available here:
https://bwhealthinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Voices-Unheard-Healthcare-Barriers-and-the-Lived-Experinces-of-Black-Women-in-Canada.pdf
_____

* I have not stepped foot in the US in well over a decade as my personal boycott, but I do recall distinctly commenting that crossing that border was like getting in a fucking time machine and going the wrong way. But it's really just comparing a dumpster fire to a forest fire.
Neither is desirable.

#racism #AntiBlackRacism #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #Canada #canpol #canpoli #Toronto

"Wealth-based eugenics is a quiet algorithm: it doesn’t kill; it sorts.
The unsorted don’t survive the wait. The ledger calls it efficiency." The Aberration Hypothesis - 2026 - L. Nault

#WealthBasedEugenics #HealthCare #DisabilityJustice #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #Austerity

br00t4c
(@)br00t4c(@)mastodon.social

STAT+: Trump to end federal funding of certain non-medical services in Medicaid
#TrumpAdministration #HousingNutritionSupport #FederalFundingCut #SocialDeterminantsOfHealth #NonMedicalServices
https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/11/trump-ends-federal-funding-some-non-medical-services-in-medicaid/?utm_campaign=rss

STAT · Trump to end federal funding of certain non-medical services in Medicaid
The services are often aimed at improving housing and nutrition for people in the Medicaid program.

https://mastodon.social/@br00t4c/114321462695005356

Covid is no worse than the flu?

I know, I have now led dozens of posts over the past few years with this sarcastic question. But now, with the pandemic officially declared over by the politicians and the majority of the public behaving as though Covid19 is no longer a threat, it seems particularly apropos in light of the reasons for declaring the pandemic over: to get people back to work and back to consuming. Yet, as the data from this study show, Long Covid has had an enormous negative impact on the income and quality of life for millions of Americans, particularly the poor and working class, and particularly for African Americans and women.

*Nearly 1 in 7 working-age adults in the U.S. had experienced Long Covid by the end of 2023
*Socially disadvantaged adults were 152% more likely to suffer from Long Covid
*Groups with higher risk for Long Covid include being Black, LGBTQ, Hispanic, Female, or low income
*In 2022, people with Long Covid lost $211 billion in wages
*In 2023, people with Long Covid lost $218 billion in wages

One reason for the disproportionate effect of Long Covid on marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC and poor people, is that these groups suffer disproportionately from chronically elevated levels of the stress hormone, Cortisol, due to the stress caused by racism, sexism, homophobia, and poverty. Elevated Cortisol levels are also associated with increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes, as well as impaired immune function.

For a really good documentary on the Social Determinants of Health and the relationship between racism and poverty on stress/cortisol levels and negative health outcomes, please see the Unnatural Causes video series

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/studies-1-7-us-working-age-adults-report-long-covid-heaviest-burden-poor

#covid #COVID19 #longcovid #publichealth #pandemic #wages #workingclass #racism #poverty #socialdeterminantsofhealth #lgbtq #sexism #homophobia #cortisol #BlackMastadon