Nina Sparling Sep 3 Nearly 20% of Californians know someone who has died of COVID-19, a rate that’s significantly higher for people of color and low-income residents, according to a new poll from the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF). Among respondents, 10% of White people reported knowing someone who had died of the virus, while that rate rose to 29% for Latinx people, 28% for African Americans and 19% for Asian Americans. Meanwhile, 26% of low-income respondents of all races said...

Nationally, Black women have the lowest rates of breastfeeding initiation in comparison to any other racial/ethnic groups. Black babies are dying at twice the rate of White babies and according to the CDC, increasing breastfeeding among Black women can decrease infant mortality rates up to 50 percent. In honor of Black Breastfeeding Week (August 25th – 31st), we partnered with the BreastFriends Mommy Group in West Oakland to explore why these rates look different for Black women and...

By Rob Picheta , CNN Updated 4:40 AM ET, Thu August 20, 2020 Black newborn babies in the United States are more likely to survive childbirth if they are cared for by Black doctors, but three times more likely than White Babies to die when looked after by White doctors, a study has found. The mortality rate of Black newborns in hospital shrunk by between 39% and 58% when Black physicians took charge of the birth, according to the research, which laid bare how shocking racial disparities in...

As the COVID-19 pandemic began its devastating sweep through African American communities in April, Andre Chapman, CEO of the San Jose, California-based Unity Care , saw a glaring need for developing a COVID-19 prevention campaign that spoke directly to African Americans. “Many of our young folks and families really didn't understand the impact of this virus, nor did they believe much of the information that was coming through the media,” says Chapman. His organization provides housing and...

Psychologists find violence and trauma in childhood accelerate puberty Manisha Aggarwal-Schifellite, Harvard Staff Writer August 3, 2020 Experiencing adversity early in life has a direct effect on a person’s mental and physical health as they grow, and certain kinds of trauma can affect the pace of aging, according to new Harvard research. In addition to being risk factors for anxiety, depression, and stress, early life experiences like poverty, neglect, and violence are powerful predictors...

We are excited to announce our new brief jointly released by BARHII and the Public Health Alliance of Southern California titled “ Embedding Equity into Emergency Operations: Strategies for Local Health Departments During COVID-19 & Beyond. ” The brief outlines case studies, resources, and priority recommendations that counties and cities can take to explicitly and intentionally embed equity staff and practices into their emergency operations structures and throughout the public health...

By Clare Lombardo Aug 1 In any ordinary school year, school nurses are busy. This year, that's an understatement. "Our role has expanded tenfold," says Eileen Gavin, who co-leads a team of nurses for Middletown Township Public Schools in New Jersey. She and school nurses across the country face an unenviable and unprecedented task: caring for students and staff during a global pandemic. "We were at the front line of COVID-19 before the stay at home orders were put into place," says Gloria...

Immigrant Relief Funds Available Now – San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, Sobrato Foundation and other foundations have pooled funding to support immigrant families access funding to make ends meet given how challenging this time continues to be. The program is offering up to $1,000 for eligible households. The eligibility criteria include: 1) your household has lost income due to Covid-19, and , 2) you’re not eligible for the federal CAREs funds because of immigration status, and 3) you...

Developed by the National Resource Center for Patient/Family-Centered Medical Home, in partnership with the National Academy for State Health Policy, this fact sheet series discusses social determinants of health (SDoH) screening and referrals for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) and their families. Opportunities for collaboration and partnership between Medicaid, Title V Maternal and Child Health / CYSHCN programs, and pediatricians are discussed. State-level case...

Have You Completed the ACEs Aware Training? Eligible Medi-Cal providers : It’s not too late to self-attest to completing the ACEs Aware training. As a reminder, eligible Medi-Cal providers must self-attest to completing the certified ACE training to receive payment for ACE screenings conducted after July 1, 2020. Don't Forget to Self-Attest ACEs Aware has answers to your attestation questions at ACEsAware.org/FAQ . After finishing your training at Training.ACEsAware.org , you can find the...

Elizabeth Aguilera CalMatters Jul 12 The baby’s father was the first to get sick. As a cook in Los Angeles, Ramon Lopez never stopped going to the restaurant while other kinds of workers could log in from home. He ran all the family’s errands, buying groceries and putting gas in the car. He developed a fever, dry cough and body pain. When he lost his sense of smell, his wife, Florida Santiago, took him to a hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19, she recounted. A week later,...

This event has also been shared on the calendar, but I'm also highlighting it here so that I can share both the English and Spanish flier.