Diversity & Inclusion

Celebrate Black History Month in Health

In celebration of Black History Month, our Heart & Soul Employee Resource Group brings the following cultural insights and traditions to help address health disparities in the African American community.

• It's a community affair! Efforts to reduce health disparities among African Americans should be holistic, addressing the physical, emotional and spiritual health of individuals and their families. It's important to make connections with the greater community...
• Lack of trust in healthcare. While African Americans are becoming increasingly health conscious, some may be suspicious of clinicians due to experiences past generations have had with health care. Health care providers should be advised to listen, as some may be reserved and even suspicious.
• Is it Black or African American? Simply stated, "blacks" can be defined as all persons of African descent, whereas "African Americans" are those whose sociocultural roots are in North America and are of African descent.
• Different is beautiful. As with other groups, not all African Americans and those of African descent share the same cultural patterns. Families that have immigrated recently from Africa & the Caribbean have different cultures compared to families that have been in the United States for generations.

Learn more about the Black community via the The Pew Research Center, Center for Partnership Studies, & Diversity Best Practices.