This fact sheet offers data on the use of contraceptives by African American adolescents, particularly when compared to their white counterparts. More on these findings can be found in The Reproductive Health of African American Adolescents: What We Know and What We Don't Know.

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To better understand the issues and to inform its deliberation in formulating recommendations for policy, research, and practice, the Infant Mortality Commission asked experts in various fields related to maternal and child health and infant mortality to prepare background papers on specific issues. This background paper examines the impact of stress and stress mediators on pregnancy outcomes for African American women. The report also examines social support and other relational experiences and makes recommendations for related changes in public policy and maternal and child health practices. This analysis complements and reinforces the recommendations of other Courage to Love: Infant Mortality Commission background and framing papers on infant mortality and resilience; the role of breastfeeding in maternal and infant health; the historical framework of policies and practices to reduce infant mortality; the authentic voices of those affected by infant mortality; and infant mortality in a global context.

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This issue brief identifies, analyzes and compares provisions which explicitly address the health and health care needs of racial and ethnic minorities within the two leading Congressional health care reform proposals: The Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3962) passed in the House of Representatives on November 7, 2009; and The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (H.R. 3590) introduced in the Senate on November 18, 2009, as a merged version of the Senate Finance Committee’s America’s Health Future Act (S.1796) and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’ (HELP) Affordable Health Choices Act (S. 1697). Additionally, this issue brief explores the potential implications of broad health care reforms for racial and ethnic minorities. Also discussed is how each bill could decrease disparities and improve minority health, where each falls short in advancing these goals, as well as the transitional challenges and questions for the future should health care reform legislation be enacted.

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This report summarizes presentations made during the People of Color Strand at the 2005 TASH Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The report was made possible through a grant that TASH received from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. The People of Color Strand became a part of the TASH Conference in 2002 through the advocacy of TASH Board members of color and other concerned TASH supporters. For several years, they watched issues pertinent to people of color, especially African Americans, go unaddressed despite TASH's strong commitment to disability rights and social justice. The purpose of the People of Color Strand is to highlight health, educational, and community/social service issues and challenges faced by people of color with significant disabilities and their families. The People of Color Strand also provides a forum for presenters to highlight what strategies are working for people of color with significant disabilities and their families.

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Over the past decade, despite a narrowing of the gaps between adolescents of different racial or ethnic groups in the frequency of various sexual behaviors and associated outcomes, African American adolescents remained more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

With $10 billion in Medicaid spending reductions under consideration by Congress, the issue of Medicaid has returned to the forefront of the nation’s public policy debate. One recurring proposal to limit federal Medicaid spending would place firm caps on either Medicaid enrollment or federal Medicaid spending.

To better understand the issues and to inform its deliberation in formulating recommendations for policy, research, and practice, the Infant Mortality Commission asked experts in various fields related to maternal and child health and infant mortality to prepare background papers on specific issues. This background paper explores the relationship between maternal nutrition and infant mortality, with an emphasis on the context of relationality. It provides an analysis of the relationship between maternal nutrition and leading causes of infant mortality, as well as maternal, infant, and child health; an overview of the nutritional status and behaviors of pregnant women in the U.S.; and a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of nutritional supplementation programs in pregnancy. The final chapters reframe the relationship between maternal nutrition and infant mortality within the context of relationality over the life course and offer related recommendations for research, policy, and practice. This analysis complements and reinforces the recommendations of other Courage to Love: Infant Mortality Commission background and framing papers on infant mortality and resilience; the role of breastfeeding in maternal and infant health; the historical framework of policies and practices to reduce infant mortality; the authentic voices of those affected by infant mortality; and infant mortality in a global context.

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To better understand the issues and to inform its deliberation in formulating recommendations for policy, research, and practice, the Infant Mortality Commission asked experts in various fields related to maternal and child health and infant mortality to prepare background papers on specific issues. This background paper seeks to expand our understanding of the causes and effects of infant mortality within a broader global context. It offers comparisons between infant mortality in the U.S. and in other nations across the globe, providing a compassionate examination of the impact of social and economic inequalities on population health and infant mortality. The author concludes with policy recommendations to help mitigate or eliminate the inequalities that contribute to infant mortality. This analysis complements and reinforces the recommendations of other Courage to Love: Infant Mortality Commission background and framing papers on infant mortality and maternal nutrition; infant mortality and resilience; the role of breastfeeding in maternal and infant health; the historical framework of policies and practices to reduce infant mortality; and the authentic voices of those affected by infant mortality.

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This report examines Senator Barack Obama’s and Senator John McCain’s health care proposals in the context of eliminating the nation’s longstanding racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care.

In recent years, as states have faced increasing difficulty balancing their budgets, many have implemented measures to help achieve solvency by limiting spending within their Medicaid programs. Medicaid is the federal/state health insurance program that serves low-income seniors, children, working families, and people with disabilities, more than half of whom are people of color. States’ recent cost containment measures have changed the way Medicaid operates and have altered the access to and the quality of health-care services and treatments received by enrollees. Since the program is funded jointly by the federal and state governments and is administered by states, elected officials at both of these levels of government engage in the program’s rule making.