Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113839

Patricia Y. Miranda, MPH, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, SPH II, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, (512) 635-5738, triciam@umich.edu, Barbara Israel, DrPH, Health Behavior and Health Education/School of Public Health, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 1420 Washington Heights Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, Amy Schulz, PhD, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 5134 SPH II, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, Graciela Mentz, PhD, Health Behavior Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 2029 SPH II, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, Zachary Rowe, BS, Friends of Parkside, P.O. Box 13168, Detroit, MI 48213, and Srimathi Kannan, PhD, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health Human Nutrition Program, 1420 Washington Heights, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.

A growing body of evidence from population-based studies indicates that the experience of everyday discrimination is associated with multiple indicators of poorer physical and mental health status. This evidence is especially clear for mental health status, as self-reported everyday discrimination is consistently associated with poorer mental health for both women and men. Prior studies have found that African Americans report higher levels of unfair treatment when compared with whites, suggesting that these differentials in perceived discrimination may contribute to racial disparities in health. In this presentation, we present findings from an analysis using a stratified random sample survey conducted by the Healthy Environments Partnership (HEP), a community-based participatory research effort affiliated with the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center. HEP engages community-based organizations, health service providers and academic institutions in examining racial disparities in health. We examine attributions of the reason for unfair treatment across black, white and Latino respondents in this sample. In addition, we present findings from our analysis of the frequency of reports of unfair treatment indicating significant racial differences for some, but not all, measures of unfair treatment in this sample. Finally, we present results from regression analyses examining the extent to which self reports of unfair treatment account for racial differences in health outcomes. We close with a discussion of implications of our findings for public health interventions and public policies designed to reduce racial or ethnic health disparities in urban communities.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe racial and ethnic differences in perceptions of the extent of unfair treatment, and attributions of cause;
• Participants will discuss implications of unfair treatment for health outcomes;
• Participants will be able to describe implications of the relationship of unfair treatment to health outcomes for health policy and public health practice aimed at reducing racial disparities in health.

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Urban Health

Related Web page: www.sph.umich.edu/hep/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.