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COVID-19 spread across the nation with Black Americans experiencing twice of the prevalence of deaths than White Americans. Black American college students are facing a unique set of biopsychosocial costs including less retention and poorer mental health. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how Historically Black College or University (HBCU) students contextualize COVID-19. Interviews were conducted with 19 participants and lasted 40-60 minutes. They discussed topics including: their COVID-19 knowledge, precautionary measures, and barriers and promoters of school success were covered. Data were coded through semi-open coding and discussed among the research team. Responses were summarized by eight themes: emotional responses, colorblind rhetoric, lack of healthcare, essential work, distrust for the medical field, barriers to precautions like supply shortages and environmental factors, and poor baseline health. These findings may be used to develop interventions that moderate the impact of COVID-19 and future pandemics on mental health.

Research has shown that socioeconomic factors influence physical mobility; however, less is known about the influence of neighborhood disadvantage on mobility among African American older adults. Data from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging (N=602) were used to examine associations between neighborhood disadvantage, as measured by the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), and self-reported mobility limitations. Two-step logistic regression showed that participants residing in more disadvantaged neighborhoods, based on national ADI, had higher odds of mobility limitations, but those in less disadvantaged neighborhoods, based on state ADI, had higher odds of mobility limitations (national: OR = 1.02 (95% CI: 1.00–1.03); state: OR = 0.78 (95% CI: 0.65–0.92)). Stratified models showed the association was significant only within women (national: OR = 1.02 (95% CI: 1.00–1.04); state: OR = 0.77 (0.63-0.95)). These findings suggest that neighborhood disadvantage is an essential consideration when examining mobility limitations among African Americans.