Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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Violence is a public health issue that disproportionately affects communities of color in urban centers. There is limited understanding of how violent crime is associated with adult physical inactivity and obesity prevalence given the racial/ethnic composition of community residents. This research aimed to address this gap by examining census tract-level data in Chicago, IL. ⋯ After adjusting for socioeconomic and environmental measures (e.g., median income, grocery store availability, walkability index), violent crime rate was associated with % physical inactivity and % obesity at the census tract level in Chicago, IL (both p < 0.001). Associations were statistically significant among majority NH Black and Hispanic tracts, but not majority NH White and racially diverse tracts. Future studies should evaluate the structural drivers of violence and the influence these drivers have on adult physical inactivity and obesity risk, particularly in communities of color.
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Under the Stop, Question, and Frisk (SQF) policy, New York City (NYC) police stopped Black Americans at more than twice the rate of non-Hispanic whites, after controlling for arrests and precinct differences. We examined whether police stops of Black Americans during SQF correspond positively with psychiatric emergency department (ED) visits among Black residents in NYC. We utilized as the exposure all police stops, stops including frisking, and stops including use of force among Black Americans in NYC between 2006 and 2015 from the New York City Police Department's New York City-Stop, Question, and Frisk database. ⋯ Our findings indicate that a one standard deviation increase in police stops equates to a 2.72% increase in psychiatric ED visits among Black residents in NYC. Use of force may have the greatest mental health consequences due to perceived threats of physical violence or bodily harm to other members of the targeted group. Racially biased and unconstitutional police encounters may have acute mental health implications for the broader Black community not directly involved in the encounter itself.
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Low-income populations are at higher risk of missing appointments, resulting in fragmented care and worsening disparities. Compared to face-to-face encounters, telehealth visits are more convenient and could improve access for low-income populations. All outpatient encounters at the Parkland Health between March 2020 and June 2022 were included. ⋯ Telehealth visits were associated with significantly greater reductions in probability of no-show among patients of Black race and among those who resided in the most socially vulnerable areas. Telehealth encounters were more effective in reducing no-shows in primary care and internal medicine subspecialties than surgical specialties or other non-surgical specialties. These data suggest that telehealth may serve as a tool to improve access to care in socially complex patient populations.