As our cities have grown, California has made little effort to provide for those who are at, near, or below the poverty level. Many of these residents are also service workers, the backbone of the state’s economy.
Although the lack of affordable housing is central to this increase in homelessness, we must recognize that the solution to ending homelessness is not in the provision of housing alone.
The ‘start at 50’ U.S. Task Force mammogram approach particularly cheats Asian, Hispanic and black women, whose diagnoses peak in the 40s, potentially creating the greatest suffering for people of color at a relatively younger age.
My journey highlights the need for racial justice in annual mammograms.
Domestic violence is a learned behavior, and intergenerational trauma has real impacts on youth. To truly stand in solidarity with survivors, we must never lose sight of the hope in preventing violence for generations to come.
In the 2018 Point In Time Count, an annual effort to count the number of people experiencing homelessness on one night in January, 10 percent of respondents reported that they were victims of domestic violence.
Californians need to hear these voices, know that there are solutions, and understand that this is not an intractable problem.
Addressing adverse community experiences, which disproportionately burden communities of color and people with low incomes, must be an essential part of our strategy.
In California, adverse community experiences are the result of underinvestment and disenfranchisement in too many neighborhoods, oftentimes rooted in racism or anti-immigrant bias.
The federal administration’s attacks on immigrant families and children have been relentless. An entire generation of children is being traumatized.
As the daughter of immigrants and the president of a children’s advocacy organization that advocates for the healthy development and wellbeing of all children, this period of crisis is both personal and professional.
As a pediatrician, I not only worry about the health of the children I care for, but also the health of their parents and caregivers. Unfortunately, disparities in the wellbeing of children in the United States are climbing.
Improving health equity for children should be among our highest priorities as a nation, because it will impact our future.
What medical professionals don’t realize is that their medical setting is full of potential “triggers” for people with traumatic experiences. It should be standard practice for medical professionals to screen and assess for trauma in a safe environment.
We’re proposing state legislation to mandate trauma-informed care education in all California medical, dental and nursing programs.
In communities of color, too often the options we have to address violence rely on punishment, police and incarceration. For too many, these options cause additional cycles of trauma and harm, and are not survivor-centered.
When women of color are involved in medical studies, it gives us opportunities for advanced health care initiatives and makes us a part of the research conversation. Without the inclusion of communities of color in research, breast cancer will continue to be the number-one killer of Hispanic women and the number-two killer of African American women.