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Aging Fast & Slow

Aging Fast & Slow

Conversations on Structural Racism and Resilience across the Lifecourse

Birthing Racial Health Equality

Blacks have the highest infant mortality rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States. And the disparities are stark. Black pregnant people in the U.S. experience preterm birth at rates approximately 2 times that of White pregnant people and Black infants are twice as likely to die within the first year. In this episode, we are joined by University of Minnesota health equity researchers Drs. Rachel Hardeman and Tongtan (Bert) Chantarat who are working to change that pattern and advance reproductive health equity. By exploring replicable and theoretically sound measures of structural racism, these researchers hope to reveal evidence of its harm to maternal-child health and thereby identify pathways for intervention.   References 1.     Hardeman RR, Homan PA, Chantarat T, Davis BA, Brown TH. Improving The Measurement Of Structural Racism To Achieve Antiracist Health Policy, Health Affairs. February 2022 2.     Chantarat T, Van Riper DC, Hardeman RR, Multidimensional structural racism predicts birth outcomesfor Black and White Minnesotans, Health Services Research. June 2022 3.     Multidimensional Measurement of Structural Racism: Learnings from an Interview with Dr. Tongtan (Bert) Chantarat, Evidence for Action Blog. August 2022 4.     Hardeman RR, Chantarat T, Smith ML, et al. Association of Residence in High–Police Contact Neighborhoods With Preterm Birth Among Black and White Individuals in Minneapolis, JAMA Network Open. December 2021
March 1, 2023

Measurement Precedes Change

Structural racism is a core cause of health inequities. Providing evidence of that relationship requires a reliable method to measure structural racism. Frequently, measurements of racism are too simplistic and feed the false narrative that race, rather than racism, is the cause of racial health inequities. In this episode, Dr. Roland J. Thorpe, Jr., a gerontologist and social epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, joins podcast hosts Drs. Szanton and Crews to discuss a framework for assessing structural racial discrimination across contexts, geography, and the life course with the aim of dismantling structural racism and advancing health equity. References: Thorpe RJ, Szanton SL, LaFave SE. Structural Racial Discrimination and Structural Resilience: Measurement Precedes Change. The Journals of Gerontology. February 2022 LaFave SE, Bandeen-Roche K, Gee G, Thorpe RJ, Li Q, Crews D, Samuel L, Cooke A, Hladek M, Szanton SL. Quantifying Older Black Americans’ Exposure to Structural Racial Discrimination: How Can We Measure the Water In Which We Swim? Journal of Urban Health. April 2022 Dean LT, Thorpe RJ. What Structural Racism Is (or Is Not) and How to Measure It: Clarity for Public Health and Medical Researchers. American Journal of Epidemiology. September 2022
February 7, 2023

To Measure is to Know

Drs. Sarah Szanton and Deidra Crews kick off Aging Fast & Slow Season 2 with guest Dr. Paris "AJ" Adkins-Jackson, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. One big question for health researchers is how to measure structural racism in different places and systems. Dr. Adkins-Jackson is among the leading number of scientists working in this area. She joins us to discuss her research on the health impact of structural racism and to provide recommendations for how epidemiologists and other health researchers can measure structural racism, including approaches taken by other fields.  References: 1.      Adkins-Jackson PB, Incollingo Rodriguez AC. Methodological approaches for studying structural racism and its biopsychosocial impact on health. Nursing Outlook. September 2022 2.      Adkins-Jackson PB, Chantarat T, Bailey ZD, Ponce NA. Measuring Structural Racism: A Guide for Epidemiologists and Other Health Researchers. American Journal of Epidemiology. April 2022 3.      Adkins-Jackson PB, Jackson-Preston PA, Hairston T. “The only way out”: How self-care is conceptualized by Black women. Ethnicity & Health. 2022
January 3, 2023

Welcome to Season 2: Aging Fast & Slow

Tune in as we interview cutting-edge scientists, policy experts, and innovators as we seek to understand structural discrimination, and resilience across the lifecourse and the impact on health inequities with aging. Podcast guests will speak about their research or work, ‘aha’ moments, and next topics for exploration.
December 12, 2022

Trust: The Anchor of Health Equity

Wrapping up Season 1, Dr. Lisa Cooper stresses the importance of trust as a key ingredient for the patient-physician relationship, community engagement, and crisis response. Podcast References: Race, Gender, and Partnership in the Patient-Physician Relationship Unmasking and Addressing COVID-19’s Toll on Diverse Populations A Game Plan to Help the Most Vulnerable COVID-19 and Health Equity – A New Kind of “Herd Immunity” Twitter: @LisaCooperMD, @JHhealthequity, @JHUrbanHealth Continue the Conversation: Twitter: @agingcenter Email: [email protected] Episode 5 Transcript
June 3, 2020

It Takes a Village: Aging2.0

Episode 4 of Aging Fast & Slow highlights how business collaborations drive systems change to achieve social impact. Guest Stephen Johnston describes how Aging2.0 accelerates innovation through its global community and collective intelligence platform to improve the lives of older adults. Podcast References: Aging2.0 Connect with your local Aging2.0 Chapter The Collective Aging2.0’s COVID-19 Request for Critical Topics and Innovations Twitter: @sdbj, @Aging20, @TheA2Collective Continue the Conversation: Twitter: @agingcenter Email: [email protected] Aging Fast & Slow Episode 4 Transcript
May 6, 2020
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Aging Fast & Slow

Tune in as we engage cutting-edge scientists, policy experts, and thought leaders to better understand structural discrimination, resilience, and the impact on aging across the lifecourse. The podcast series features conversations with experts to explore the health disparities caused by structural discrimination and discuss programs and policies that aim to move the health equity needle.

Team

Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, ANP, FAAN

Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, ANP, FAAN

Sarah L. Szanton, PhD, ANP, FAAN researches ways to advance health equity through policy-relevant measurement and intervention. Szanton is the Dean and Health Equity and Social Justice Endowed Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Her three streams of research are on racial discrimination and resilience, developing ways for older adults to live independently as they age, and policy solutions for financial strain. She has received numerous honors for her work, including an NIH Pioneer award, the Heinz award and National Academy of Medicine membership.
Deidra Crews, MD, ScM, FASN, FACP

Deidra Crews, MD, ScM, FASN, FACP

Deidra Crews, MD, ScM, FASN, MACP researches ways to mitigate disparities in the care and outcomes of chronic kidney disease. Crews is a Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and holds faculty appointments with the Center on Aging and Health and Center for Health Equity, where she is Deputy Director. Her research program aims to advance equity in kidney disease and hypertension outcomes by focusing on social drivers of health inequities. An elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Dr. Crews has received numerous awards for her research contributions, including the 2018 Johns Hopkins University President’s Frontier Award given to a faculty scholar on the cusp of transforming their field.

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