Chapters authored
Effective Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder among African Americans
The current opioid epidemic substantially affects African Americans given their historical rate of disparities in access to effective substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. Yet, there is limited information about factors that may improve access to effective opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment for members of this racial group. This chapter describes policy, management, and treatment practices that may enhance access and engagement of African Americans in OUD treatment considering the current opioid epidemic and the state of public treatment systems in the United States. Drawing from a sociocultural framework on disparities in access to care, I present a comprehensive approach based on culturally competent and medication-assisted treatment that may reduce the wait time to enter treatment and increase treatment engagement and recovery rates among African Americans seeking OUD treatment. I focus on the role of public insurance (i.e., Medicaid), the diversification of the workforce, as well as delivery of adequate dosages of maintenance opioid medications (methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone) to improve engagement and recovery. Implications for health policy, program design, and service delivery are discussed to abate the effect of the opioid epidemic on African American communities.
Part of the book: Effective Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders for Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Racial Health Disparities in Coronavirus Deaths
Preliminary racial data on the coronavirus pandemic indicates that African Americans are much more likely to experience infections, hospitalizations, and death from the virus in comparison to other racial groups. While this appears to be an alarming health outcome regarding African Americans, it is, in fact, not surprising, nor even new information, considering the historical context of racial health disparities and the marginal health of African Americans in the United States. The leading causes of death for African Americans generally and historically reflects the leading causes of death for the entire United States population. More research, and obviously data, is needed to fully understand the factors that cause the overall racial health disparities, in general, and racial disparities in coronavirus cases and deaths, in particular. In the case of the coronavirus pandemic, the racial disparities in deaths reflect racial differences in the way that African Americans live, work, and exist as a result of their ‘second-class citizenship’ with respect to their lower socioeconomic status in comparison to other racial groups. From a health policy perspective, challenges exist to reversing the current trend in coronavirus deaths among African Americans due to a myriad of historic, consistent, and pervasive societally-induced deficits within African American life. The proposed chapter will rely on systematic review of the extant literature on racial health disparities to identify multiple factors that may affect African American deaths due to the current coronavirus pandemic. The chapter will also rely on this framework to inform evidence-based approaches to improve public health for African Americans.
Part of the book: Science-Based Approaches to Respond to COVID and Other Public Health Threats