Healthy Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA AREA HEALTH DISPARITIES

Philadelphia, as the 5th largest city in the United States, is not immune to the problem of social and health disparities. Using data from the Bureau of the Census, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI, Center for Health Equality (CHE) staff documented racial and ethnic health disparities in Philadelphia similar to disparities observed in other major cities in the US. For instance, low birth weight rates among black women in 2000 were almost twice the white rate (13.8/1000 live births v. 7.1); and births to teens were well over twice the white rate (21.1 v 8.6). Hispanics also had higher rates than whites for these measures. African American women have higher death rates for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and kidney disease than white women in Philadelphia and similar disparities in death rates for these chronic conditions exist between black and white men.

Other racial and ethnic minority groups in Philadelphia also fare worse than whites for many chronic conditions. For example, Hispanic men and women have almost 4 times the mortality rate than whites for HIV/AIDS and are approximately 1.5 times more likely to die from diabetes than whites. In addition, Asian women have higher rates of death from chronic liver disease as well as kidney disease compared to their white counterparts. Moreover, poverty rates among blacks and Hispanics living in the city were respectively two and three times higher than whites.

ELIMINATING HEALTH DISPARITIES

Cultural diversity is a significant and growing part of many communities in Philadelphia and throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Caring for diverse residents requires the health care system at all levels to work with, understand and apply information on cultural diversity from many perspectives including: the consequences of racism in health and health care; the critical importance of effective communication, interpretation and literacy; patient-provider dynamics influencing health care quality and effectiveness; and the role the health care setting plays in disparities. Improving knowledge and skills concerning specific race/ethnic beliefs, for example, may assist providers in guiding a course of care that assures adherence to treatment regimens and the most positive outcome while minimizing the occasion for medical errors. Similarly, developing policies at the state level that encourage health care providers to develop programs to obtain critical information on the health of their diverse patients and their community can assist in targeting health concerns needing the greatest attention.

Drexel University’s Center for Health Equality (CHE) is pursuing research documenting health disparities and is developing partnerships with the community to collaborate on programs to reduce health disparities in Philadelphia. CHE has partnered with Drexel’s Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication to work with communities of color on health disparities issues as they relate to emergency preparedness. CHE staff are also part of the Center for Academic Public Health Practice, which is developing a Public Health Symposium Series on topics that reflect the most pressing health issues facing Philadelphians. The Drexel-Health Partners of Philadelphia Seminar Series on Innovations to Reduce Disparities in Health Care offers the opportunity for Drexel University faculty and students, and the broader professional public health and provider community in the city to hear from and engage national leaders on the dimensions of disparities and ways to improve quality health care for racially and ethnically diverse residents in the Philadelphia area. The Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health Community Health Empowerment Program housed at CHE provides training, technical assistance, and oversight to Philadelphia health-care providers, community leaders, and minority-owned business owners--specifically beauty salons serving primarily African-American and Hispanic women--to create an independent program of on-going health education and empowerment. CHE is also affiliated with the Eleventh Street Family Health Services of Drexel University, which is a nurse-managed health center providing primary care services, including sick and well care for children and adults, family planning, immunizations, and health promotion and disease prevention programs to the medically underserved north Philly community.

PHILADELPHIA HEALTH INFORMATION

Philadelphia Department of Public Health

Philadelphia Health Management Corporation

Philly Health Info, College of Physicians of Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA STATISTICS

2002 Philadelphia Vital Statistics, Philadelphia Department of Health

1990-2000 Demographic and Health Data for Philadelphia and its suburbs
The Social and Health Landscape of Urban and Suburban America

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Urban Social Health Statistics

Health Indicators for Health Philadelphia 2010, Philadelphia Department of Health

Pennsylvania Vital Statistics, Pennsylvania Department of Health

DREXEL’S COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health