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How Racism and Discrimination Impact Health
At Interact for Health, we continue to revisit and reflect on the themes of the Our Health, Our Opportunity report. At the start of the year, we focused on the vital conditions for health and well-being, recognizing that we all want the opportunity to thrive where we live, learn, work, and play. As we transition to the next theme, we will highlight the impact of racism and discrimination on our community’s health.
Our community has over 2.4 million people. We are diverse across backgrounds of age, income, disability, race, and ethnicity. While we may be different, we all want the same thing: to be treated with dignity and respect. We have a shared humanity that calls on all of us to ensure our neighbors have the same opportunities for health that we do. The reality is that racism and other forms of discrimination are preventing our community from fully thriving - and it’s undermining our health.
Racism, ableism, anti-LGBTQ+ bias, and other forms of discrimination have shaped the communities, institutions, and systems around us, often by design. When people are unfairly deprived of resources or opportunities, their financial, emotional, and physical health suffer—and the results can reverberate across generations.
Experiences of racism and discrimination also have a direct impact on mental health. Individuals who report experiencing discrimination in their daily lives are more likely to report problems with stress and feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and depression. In our region, LGBTQ+ adults are more likely to experience poor mental health and less access to care.
Community members’ responses to the question “What does a thriving community look like?” from the Our Health, Our Opportunity report.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. In Greater Cincinnati, we’ve seen people and coalitions come together to redesign systems with the people closest to the problem leading the way. For example, Mama Certified has brought together hospital leaders, insurance providers, physicians, and most critically, Black mothers to address maternal equity at local birthing hospitals and improve the health of Black mothers and babies. And Dayton, Kentucky became the 12th community in Kentucky to pass a Fairness Ordinance, legislation that prevents discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in employment, housing, and public accommodations.
It is vital to continue discussing the impact of racism and discrimination on health, now more than ever. At Interact for Health, we remain steadfast in our mission of advancing health justice, which means tackling root causes that undermine health and well-being. We also see our role as an independent foundation to use our voice and continue to highlight the many factors that impact health when others cannot.
Over the next few months, we will continue to uplift this ongoing conversation, data from the Our Health, Our Opportunity report, and stories from our partners who are closest to this work.
While much has shifted in the last few months in the national conversation around racism, health, and how they intersect, our dedication to our shared humanity and vision for a region where every person has the opportunity to live their healthiest life remains the same.
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