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INTRODUCTION: This ongoing, prospective study examines the effectiveness of methods used to successfully recruit and retain 238 Black older adults in a longitudinal, observational Alzheimer's disease (AD) study. METHODS: Recruitment strategies included traditional media, established research registries, speaking engagements, community events, and snowball sampling. Participants were asked to complete an annual office testing session, blood‐based biomarker collection, optional one‐time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, and community workshop. RESULTS: Within the first 22 months of active recruitment, 629 individuals expressed interest in participating, and 238 enrolled in the ongoing study. Of the recruitment methods used, snowball sampling, community events, and speaking engagements were the most effective. DISCUSSION: The systemic underrepresentation of Black participants in AD research impacts the ability to generalize research findings and determine the effectiveness and safety of disease‐modifying treatments. Research to slow, stop, or prevent AD remains a top priority but requires diversity in sample representation. Highlights: Provide flexible appointments in the evening or weekends, offering transportation assistance, and allowing participants to complete study visits at alternative locations, such as senior centers or community centers.Continuously monitor and analyze recruitment data to identify trends, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.Implement targeted strategies to recruit participants who are underrepresented based on sex, gender, or education to increase representation.Diversify the research team to include members who reflect the racial and cultural backgrounds of the target population, to enhance trust and rapport with prospective participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Civic education translates research evidence about topics of social importance for broad public audiences, with increased understanding and meaningful action of the desired outcomes. "For the Sake of All" is an example of civic education on the social determinants of health and health disparities situated in the local context of St. Louis, Missouri. This article describes the research translation, community engagement, strategic communication, and approach to policy that characterized this project. It presents data highlighting racial disparities in health, educational, and economic outcomes, along with policy and programmatic recommendations. Engagement and implementation strategies are described within the context of the events in Ferguson.

BackgroundIt is unknown to what extent the gap between need and care for depression among patients with diabetes differs across racial/ethnic groups. We compared, by race/ethnicity, the likelihood of clinical recognition of depression (diagnosis or treatment) of patients who reported depressive symptoms in a well-characterized community-based population with diabetes.DesignWe used a survey follow-up study of 20,188 patients with diabetes from Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Analyses were limited to 910 patients who scored 10 or higher on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) which was included in the survey and who had no clinical recognition of depression in the 12 months prior to survey. Clinical recognition of depression was defined by a depression diagnosis, referral to mental health services, or antidepressant medication prescription.ResultsAmong the 910 patients reporting moderate to severe depressive symptoms on the survey and who had no clinical recognition in the prior year, 12%, 8%, 8%, 14%, and 15% of African American, Asian, Filipino, Latino, and white patients, respectively, were clinically recognized for depression in the subsequent 12 months. After adjusting for sociodemographics, limited English proficiency, and depressive symptom severity, racial/ethnic minorities were less likely to be clinically recognized for depression compared with whites (relative risk: Filipino: 0.30, African American: 0.62).ConclusionsMore work is needed to understand the modifiable patient and provider factors that influence clinical recognition of depression among diabetes patients from different racial/ethnic groups, and the potential impact of low rates of clinical recognition on quality of care.

Purpose: This study examines the influence of discrimination and mastery on depressive symptoms for African American men at young (18-34), middle (35-54), and late (55+) adulthood. Method: Analyses are based on responses from 1,271 African American men from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL). Results: Discrimination was significantly related to depressive symptoms for men ages 35 to 54 and mastery was found to be protective against depressive symptoms for all men. Compared to African American men in the young and late adult groups, discrimination remained a statistically significant predictor of depressive symptoms for men in the middle group once mastery was included. Implications: Findings demonstrate the distinct differences in the influence of discrimination on depressive symptoms among adult African American males and the need for future research that explores the correlates of mental health across age groups. Implications for social work research and practice with African American men are discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)

Civic education translates research evidence about topics of social importance for broad public audiences, with increased understanding and meaningful action of the desired outcomes. For the Sake of All is an example of civic education on the social determinants of health and health disparities situated in the local context of St. Louis, Missouri. This article describes the research translation, community engagement, strategic communication, and approach to policy that characterized this project. It presents data highlighting racial disparities in health, educational, and economic outcomes, along with policy and programmatic recommendations. Engagement and implementation strategies are described within the context of the events in Ferguson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is one of the most common, costly, and debilitating psychiatric disorders in the United States. One of the most persistent mental health disparities is the underutilization of treatment services among African American men with depression. Little is known about appropriateness or acceptability of depression care among African American men. The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of depression and determine barriers to depression treatment among African American men. A series of four focus groups were conducted with 26 African American men. The average age of the sample was 41 years and most participants reported that they had completed high school. Nearly half of the participants reported that they are currently unemployed and most had never been married. The most common descriptions of depression in this study were defining depression as feeling down, stressed, and isolated. A small group of participants expressed disbelief of depression. The majority of participants recognized the need to identify depression and were supportive of depression treatment. Nonetheless, most men in this sample had never sought treatment for depression and discussed a number of barriers to depression care including norms of masculinity, mistrust of the health care system, and affordability of treatment. Men also voiced their desire to discuss stress in nonjudgmental support groups. Research findings highlight the need to increase the awareness of symptoms some African American men display and the need to provide appropriate depression treatment options to African American men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence from previous studies indicates that racial discrimination is significantly associated with depression and that African Americans with higher levels of socioeconomic status (SES) report greater exposure to racial discrimination compared to those with lower SES levels. Coping strategies could alter the relationship between racial discrimination and depression among African Americans. This study first examined whether greater levels of SES were associated with increased reports of racial discrimination and ratings of John Henryism, a measure of high-effort coping, among African Americans. Second, we examined whether high-effort coping moderated the relationship between racial discrimination and depression. Data were drawn from the National Survey of American Life Reinterview (n = 2,137). Analyses indicated that greater levels of education were positively associated with racial discrimination (p < .001) and increased levels of racial discrimination were positively related to depression (p < .001), controlling for all sociodemographic factors. Greater levels of John Henryism were associated with increased odds of depression but there was no evidence to suggest that the relationship between discrimination and depression was altered by the effects of John Henryism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examines the influence of discrimination and mastery on depressive symptoms for African American men at young (18—34), middle (35—54), and late (55+) adulthood. Method: Analyses are based on responses from 1,271 African American men from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL). Results: Discrimination was significantly related to depressive symptoms for men ages 35 to 54 and mastery was found to be protective against depressive symptoms for all men. Compared to African American men in the young and late adult groups, discrimination remained a statistically significant predictor of depressive symptoms for men in the middle group once mastery was included. Implications: Findings demonstrate the distinct differences in the influence of discrimination on depressive symptoms among adult African American males and the need for future research that explores the correlates of mental health across age groups. Implications for social work research and practice with African American men are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between racial and economic segregation and diabetes mortality among US counties from 2016 to 2020., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional ecological study that combined county-level diabetes mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System and sociodemographic information drawn from the 2016-2020 American Community Survey (n=2380 counties in the USA). Racialized economic segregation was measured using the Index Concentration at the Extremes (ICE) for income (ICE income ), race (ICE race ) and combined income and race (ICE combined ). ICE measures were categorised into quintiles, Q1 representing the highest concentration and Q5 the lowest concentration of low-income, non-Hispanic (NH) black and low-income NH black households, respectively. Diabetes was ascertained as the underlying cause of death. County-level covariates included the percentage of people aged ≥65 years, metropolitan designation and population size. Multilevel Poisson regression was used to estimate the adjusted mean mortality rate and adjusted risk ratios (aRR) comparing Q1 and Q5., Results: Adjusted mean diabetes mortality rate was consistently greater in counties with higher concentrations of low-income (ICE income ) and low-income NH black households (ICE combined ). Compared with counties with the lowest concentration (Q1), counties with the highest concentration (Q5) of low-income (aRR 1.96; 95% CI 1.81 to 2.11 for ICE income ), NH black (aRR 1.32; 95% CI 1.18 to 1.47 for ICE race ) and low-income NH black households (aRR 1.70; 95% CI 1.56 to 1.84 for ICE combined ) had greater diabetes mortality., Conclusion: Racial and economic segregation is associated with diabetes mortality across US counties., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

•Wealth attenuated racial differences in self-rated health during young adulthood.•Wealth had consistent incremental effect on health among White & Hispanic Americans.•For Black Americans, wealth was protective of health in the highest wealth quartile.•Individual wealth, not parental wealth was associated with health among Hispanics., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Ethnic differences in both physiological response to and health consequences of tobacco smoking-some of which have been attributed to ethnic preferences for menthol cigarettes-have been described in the literature. We compared acute physiological responses to smoking in African-American and European-American adolescent menthol cigarette smokers seeking smoking cessation treatment. One-hundred- twenty-eight adolescents (32% African-American, 71% female; mean age 15.16 +/- 1.32 years, mean Fagerström Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND) score 6.73 +/- 1.53, cigarettes per day (CPD) 16.9 +/- 2.64) participated in an experimental session during which they smoked one menthol cigarette of their usual brand. Blood pressure, heart rate, and exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations were measured before and after smoking; mean puff volume (mL), puff duration (sec) and maximal puff velocity (mL/sec) during smoking were also determined. Two sample t-tests were performed to assess ethnic differences in smoking topography; analysis of covariance was used to determine whether heart rate and blood pressure after smoking one menthol cigarette varied by ethnicity, after controlling for baseline physiological measures. No significant ethnic differences were observed in either smoking topography or acute cardiovascular response to smoking. These preliminary findings warrant extension to a broader group of nontreatment-seeking adolescent smokers of both ethnicities.