Race Forward series tackles racial disparities in healthcare

Elyria YWCA and the League of Women Voters explored the intersections of race, education and housing as part of the Race Forward speaker series on Thursday. Gathering at Lorain County Community College's Spitzer Conference Center, the talk titled "Collaborating to Bridge the Gap Part II" welcomed Emily Campbell, chief operating officer for the Center for Community Solutions and Yvonka Hall, executive director for the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition. Campbell talked about the state of behavioral health care. Citing a recent poll that found nine of 10 people believe the United States has a mental health crisis on its hands, Campbell said the data show the conclusion isn't farfetched. "We have a bit of a perfect storm that's happening that is causing these issues to skyrocket, especially among young people," Campbell said. "We can't forget, although some of us would like to, that we just lived through a very traumatic time with the COVID-19 pandemic." The country is just beginning to understand the impact on racial minorities who have experienced a lifetime of racial microaggressions. In that environment, mental health conditions are historically underreported. The acknowledgment of systemic racism and racial disparities has broadened the public discussion of these issues. "On balance, this is a great thing, but it's difficult for people who've lived through it before. We hear from Black elders that some of the events of the past few years are bringing back some difficult memories from their experiences during the Civil Rights Movement," Campbell said. "On top of that, we have the negative effects on mental health from social media and the digital environment. There's mounting evidence that these apps are harmful to the well being especially of adolescents, and we don't know really what to do about it." The behavioral health treatment system, she said, is stressed to its limits. Burnout among practitioners is very high. Ohio allocated $2.3 billion for mental health treatment and services in the biennial budget, including $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for pediatric healthcare. Some of the funds are specifically targeted to train and recruit an increasing number of minority behavioral health practitioners. The truth lies in the numbers, with an increasing amount of mental health reporting from recent data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. While there weren't notable differences along racial lines, there were sharp divergences among age groups with younger adults more likely to experience feelings of despair and loneliness. "And so we believe that some of the dramatic increases that we are seeing in depression and anxiety and suicidal ideation, some other negative things, especially among communities of color is really the data catching up to reality, which means again, that we can do something about it," Campbell said. Hall travels around the country advising organizations on equity and the cumulative impact of racial, economic, environmental and social justice inequities in education, employment, housing and health, with the goal of translating real stories into effective policy changes. She also serves on President Joe Biden's national environmental justice advisory committee. "And so when we talk about the social determinants of health, we have to talk about what's happened over a period of time and built-in natural and social environments that are affecting humans that are both individuals and communities in about a positive and a negative way," Hall said. "So these things that impact us when we talk about racism, aren't things that just happen overnight. These are things that have been happening, happening, happening over the course of us being here and what we are seeing now is things are coming to a full head." Hall pointed to redlining in housing discrimination, lead exposure and a lack of access to healthy and nutritious food that continue to affect minority communities. She encouraged policies including raising the minimum wage, increasing access to affordable quality housing, and supporting efforts to bring more minorities into the healthcare field. Contact Kevin Martin at (440) 329-7121 or kmartin@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinMartinCT.