Hippocrates wrote, “Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity”. In the USA, the opportunity to heal is related to class and race. This website gathers together articles, reports and conference presentations submitted by various agencies and individuals related to minorities and health. The “validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor”.
Users can browse by subject or special collection or search by specific topics. Searching Diabetes gives 542 hits, 179 of which are journal articles. An advanced search allows the user to search in the title, abstract, full-text and limit by type of resource (journal article, report, dissertation, video, etc.). The articles include many which compare diabetes in different ethnic groups and call for more research to understand behavioural versus genetic causes for the wide gap in occurrence of diabetes, especially, as it relates to longevity. The user must create an account and then can login to any of the resources.
The scope of the website is broad. Not just medical and health issues but ancillary issues that contribute to health are included as well – household food availability, access to grocery stores, exposure to family violence and more. One report, Linking Patients to Non-Medical Supports notes that “(O)f surveyed physicians, 85% believe that addressing social needs is as important as addressing medical needs. Some of these unmet social needs include access to adequate income, employment, nutritious food, transportation, and safe housing”. Death can come to minority communities not only through disease, hunger or want but also through the use of deadly force. A report on the Ferguson, Missouri police was found in here as well as others about the relationship between police and African Americans as it relates to health (stress, use of deadly force, etc.).
Subjects that can be browsed include reports coming from specific agencies such as the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and topics such as prenatal health, health risk factors including stress, smoking and tobacco use, and obesity. The user can browse by practice (interventions, outreach or service), research or teaching, including community redevelopment.
The knowledgeable user might think to go to all of the agencies found here for the most recent information about minority health, but having the reports and articles that focus on health inequities is very convenient for students, researchers and practitioners in the disciplines of health, public health and ethnic studies.
