Listening to Black Californians: How the Health Care System Undermines Their Pursuit of Good Health

California, home to the most culturally diverse population in the country and the fifth largest Black population of any state, has a major opportunity to be a leader in health equity. But, again and again, research has shown that racism and structural barriers in the health care system prevent Black Californians from achieving the health they actively seek.Long-standing racial and ethnic health disparities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the powerful demonstrations against police violence catalyzed by the murder of George Floyd, prompted CHCF to investigate the relationship between racism and health care that leads to unacceptable health outcomes for Black Californians. To identify solutions for dismantling persistent health inequities, CHCF engaged EVITARUS, a Black-owned public opinion research firm in Los Angeles, to conduct qualitative and quantitative research that listens deeply to Black Californians talking about their experiences with racism and health care.Listening to Black Californians is one of the largest studies focused on the health care experiences of Black Californians to date. The qualitative phases, conducted from June to December 2021, included in-depth interviews with 100 Black Californians and 18 focus groups consisting of Black Californians and key health care stakeholders. The interviews and focus groups informed the content of a statewide survey, conducted from March to May 2022, and completed by 3,325 adult Black Californians recruited to reflect the population based on the 2020 US Census and 2019 American Community Survey

In Their Own Words: Black Californians on Racism and Health Care

California, home to the most culturally diverse population in the country and the fifth largest Black population of any state, has a major opportunity to be a leader in health equity. But glaring racial and ethnic inequities pervade its health care system, from insufficient access to worse health outcomes to excess mortality. Black residents have the shortest life expectancy (75 years) at birth of any racial/ethnic group, six years shorter than the state average. Black Californians have the highest death rates from breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers. Black birthing people experience the highest rates of prenatal and postpartum depression, preterm births, low birthweight births, and pregnancy-related mortality. And Black infants have the highest mortality rates.As part of its commitment to ending health inequities, CHCF is funding Listening to Black Californians, a three-phase qualitative and quantitative study to understand the health and health care experiences of Black Californians. This project will also explore the impact of racism on Black Californians' experiences in the health care system, as well as the detrimental effects of racism on their health.EVITARUS, a Black-owned public opinion research firm in Los Angeles, is conducting the research. An advisory group composed of academics, policymakers, providers, and community advocates is guiding the study. Listening to Black Californians will identify policy actions and practice changes at the clinical, administrative, and training levels that policymakers and health system leaders can take to eliminate discrimination in health care and to improve the health outcomes of Black Californians.This report describes the results of Phase I of the Listening to Black Californians study, which was conducted during the summer of 2021. The 100 people interviewed for this phase explained how they think about health and described their individual experiences with California's health care system. While each interview provided unique insights, taken together, the conversations revealed many similarities in how Black Californians view health and how they experience health care. Interviewees shared their perceptions about health, their experiences with racism and health care, and their perspectives on what constitutes quality health care. The study results are summarized on the following page

Uncertainty of flow in porous media

The problem posed to the Study Group was, in essence, how to estimate the probability distribution of f(x) from the probability distribution of x. Here x is a large vector and f is a complicated function which can be expensive to evaluate. For Schlumberger's applications f is a computer simulator of a hydrocarbon reservoir, and x is a description of the geology of the reservoir, which is uncertain

Investigations Into the Pathogenesis of Acute Equine Laminitis.

A profound decrease in perfusion of the laminar capillaries has been documented during acute equine laminitis, resulting in ischemia of the laminar tissue. Oxygen radicals are believed to mediate ischemia/reperfusion injury. The effects of (1) three hours of surgical ligation of the major blood supply of the equine digit followed by ligature release, (2) resection of the medial and lateral palmar digital arteries, and (3) digital intraarterial infusions of an oxygen radical generating system, were investigated. Laminitis was not induced by any of these manipulations. Clinical signs and alterations in hemograms observed following these procedures are reported. Preliminary identification of xanthine oxidase and superoxide dismutase activities in laminar tissue is described. Due to similarities in physiologic alterations and histopathologic lesions, laminitis has been described as the manifestation of a Shwartzman reaction. The effects of palmar digital intraarterial infusions of E. coli endotoxin followed in 24 hours by jugular vein infusion of the same endotoxin were investigated. Clinical signs and alterations in hemograms were consistent with the known effects of endotoxin in the horse. Laminitis did not develop. Exposure to black walnut (Juglans nigra) trees or shavings has been associated with the development of laminitis in the horse. Experimentally, laminitis may be consistently induced by the intragastric administration of an aqueous extract of black walnut heartwood. The laminogenic agent in black walnut has not been reported. In the present study the partial characterization of black walnut heartwood extracts was accomplished by gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric methods. Subsequently, identified components of the extracts were individually administered to horses, as were various crude fractions obtained from pH fractionations and precipitations of black walnut heartwood extracts. The clinical effects and laminogenic potentials of each is reported

Business Faculty Time Management: Lessons Learned From The Trenches

Teaching, research, and service expectations of the academic profession may sometimes seem overwhelming. Although much has been written about time management in general, there has not been much written about time management in the academic professions and even less written about time management for academics in the business disciplines. This paper will provide a review of the literature about time management for faculty. In addition, this paper will provide practical methods for you to plan and organize your time to better meet your teaching, research and service expectations. Finally, this paper will help you develop a strategy to avoid the top ten time wasters for faculty

A theoretical treatment of void electromigration in the strip geometry

The void electromigration process in the strip geometry is investigated analytically and numerically. The void is assumed to travel either along the axis of symmetry of the metal strip or at the boundary. In each case, the shape, the velocity of the void and the characteristic electrical current are predicte