The Health Disparities Podcast

What would it take for health care providers to truly meet people where they are – and go beyond the 15-minute visit?

Dr. Razia Jayman-Aristide is a physician who blends deep clinical expertise with a powerful public health lens. She has spent the last 15 years building a career that bridges direct patient care, nonprofit leadership and systemic change.

In this episode, Dr. Jayman-Aristide shares her journey — and how she’s redefin...

Systemic racism continues to shape medical education, clinical practice and patient outcomes. It’s a topic near and dear to Dr. Uché Blackstock—physician, health equity advocate, and New York Times bestselling author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine.

In this episode, Dr. Blackstock reflects on her own experiences as a Black woman in medicine, including a misdiagnosis during medical school that left her h...

Health misinformation is a growing challenge, as social media has become a primary source of information for many people, and influential voices are casting doubt on established medical practices. 

Trusted health sources are becoming harder to find, especially in communities of color where access to care is already limited and systemic barriers persist. 

The fight to bring reliable health information and resources to vulnerable com...

There are numerous social and structural vectors for disease that are not often discussed in medical school. So, Dr. David Ansell says he had a lot to learn once he became a physician.

Ansell, author of “The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills,” writes about the stark disparities in access to treatment and outcomes for patients in the U.S. healthcare system.

“We always talk about inequities. We have frank inequities, but we have gross ...

Food insecurity is a systemic public health issue that needs to be addressed because reliable access to healthy food is critical to positive health outcomes.

Health care partnerships are forming to improve access to healthy foods in some states, including Massachusetts, which is at the forefront of addressing food insecurity with programs that allow Medicaid funding to be used to address social determinants of health.

“I would push...

Conversation is an important part of bringing an end to racism so that everyone thrives in our society. It’s something that the leaders of 904Ward care deeply about. 

The 904Ward organization evolved the Jacksonville 904 dialing area code into a nonprofit whose mission is to create racial healing and equity through deep conversations and learning, trusting relationships, and collective action. 

Dr. Kimberly Allen served as the inau...

The underlying causes of health disparities are many, and sometimes healthcare providers can exacerbate disparities with how they operate.

Health equity researchers have conducted "secret shopper" studies, revealing how healthcare providers limit appointments — and even treatment recommendations — to people with certain types of insurance.

“Patients with Medicaid were significantly less likely to be offered appointments compared to...

What does it take to create healthy neighborhoods that include broad, deep, and permanent pathways to prosperity for low-income families? 

That question is the focus of today’s episode with Carol Redmond Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities based in Atlanta.

“I really have become an  advocate for community development as a way to move the needle on  health outcomes. And I'm not talking about simply putting a kidney dialysis c...

The case for diversity in healthcare professions is strong. Research shows that a diverse healthcare workforce improves health outcomes, particularly for patients of color, and also increases people’s access to care and their perception of the care they receive. 

Physicians of color are more likely to build careers in underserved communities, which can contribute even more toward the goal of reducing healthcare disparities.

So, wha...

Poverty is a key driver of health disparities. But numerous policies have been shown to help alleviate poverty and improve health equity, according to Dr. Rita Hamad, associate professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Hamad says policymakers need to look upstream and identify the root causes of health issues.

“And really recognizing that poverty is one of the major root causes of...

A diverse healthcare workforce is critical to improving outcomes for our diverse nation.

In order to achieve this, there needs to be both a pipeline and a pathway, says Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine.

“We need students to believe what’s possible in first grade and then chart a path,” she says.

Montgomery Rice says her own love and science and people led her to chart her career pathwa...

Participating in religious activities appears to benefit cardiovascular health among Black Americans. It’s something we explored in an episode on this podcast a few years back.

Health systems, professional societies and researchers are increasingly recognizing that “faith-based organizations are trusted institutions within underserved communities and that people not only seek spiritual refuge and salvation in these places of worshi...

In today’s episode, we explore some big questions about community health — and how hospitals and health care workers can help promote equitable health outcomes in their communities.

The Community Health Needs Assessment, or CHNA, is a  powerful tool for promoting health equity, says Leslie Marshburn, Vice President of Strategy & Population Health at Grady Health System.

“We want to be hearing directly from the individuals that ...

Across the globe and in the U.S., environmental crises loom large and threaten our most vulnerable populations. 

“There's a lot of dying that's happening now, and it's primarily among poor, Black and Brown people,” says Dr. Cheryl Holder, who’s on a personal mission to inspire clinicians to act on climate change. 

Holder explains that a person’s health and well-being is directly impacted by the environment they’re surrounded by.

“I...

What motivates Joel Bervell, a.k.a. the Medical Mythbuster, to create social media content addressing racial disparities, the hidden history of medicine, and biases in healthcare? 

He’s seen how it can literally save lives.

A year after Bervell posted a video about disparities in pulse oximeters for Black patients, a man reached out to share that during the pandemic, he had reported to the hospital with shortness of breath, a fever...

Weight bias is pervasive and is one of the most common forms of bias in the U.S. 

When it comes to obesity medicine, patients can be their worst critics, says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician scientist, educator, and policy maker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

“They’re their worst critics because what they’ve heard from their doctors, their family members, their peers is that th...

It takes a village to find and implement strategies that promote positive health outcomes in communities across the U.S. — and the nation’s public health agency is working to promote these innovations.

“The best innovations that we've had for humankind have come from these types of collective strategies,” says Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the CDC National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

This week on the...

Collaboration is the cure: Dr. Vivian Pinn calls for renewed efforts to bring about health equity

Speaking at the university where she was the only female and only African American student in her class, and in the auditorium named for her, “Healing Hate” conference keynote speaker Dr. Vivian Pinn reflects on progressing her career during eras of segregation, discrimination, and civil rights. 

Pinn says it’s important to address the...

Chronic stress from life in an unjust society can have measurable negative impacts on the health of people from marginalized backgrounds. 

The concept is known as weathering, and it’s the focus of the aptly named book by Arline Geronimus, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a professor in the school of public health at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

Weathering is exacerbated by racism, sexi...