PHS Values Statement 

The communities served by Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Advocate Health have residents from many different backgrounds and perspectives. Public Health Sciences (PHS) conducts health related research across the Advocate Health regions and beyond and aims to honor and reflect the heterogeneity of our communities.  

Large differences in health and life expectancy exist across a range of health metrics and along many dimensions, including race, ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, and geographical location.1-3 Even when life expectancy improves, as it has in the United States during most of the last 50 years,  the gain in years of life is not equally distributed and have not closed gaps between groups.4 5 The causes of these health differences are complex, however contributing factors include social and neighborhood determinants of health, differential access to health insurance and services, availability of health-promoting resources (e.g. nutrition) and the historic legacy of discrimination6, via de jure and de facto segregation7 and redlining8 particularly encountered by racial and ethnic minority groups.  

Of immediate relevance to our profession, the concept of race has long been utilized in research9,10 despite divergent views on the validity of race as a biologically relevant construct.  We also acknowledge ongoing health care disparities affecting subgroups defined by background, income, or regions of the U.S. 11 The impacts of this history continue to be felt in the present day.  We acknowledge these realities and aim to do our part to counter them within Winston-Salem, our academic department, and scientific community. 

We commit to recognizing, uplifting, and supporting all people – including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American, Pacific Islander, White, and  other ethnic minorities, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, who have disabilities, who are facing housing insecurity, those who have been previously or are currently incarcerated – in our work at PHS and in the wider research community.

We will embrace our strengths and aspire to better connect with all individuals regardless of our differences whether they be age, sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, religious beliefs, military background, or political affiliation. 

 

References

  1. Most Diverse Cities in America. Men’s Health. 2020;(September).
  2. Serwer A. The Capitol Riot Was an Attack on Multiracial Democracy. The Atlantic. Published January 7, 2021. Accessed January 10, 2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/01/multiracial-democracy-55-years-old-will-it-survive/617585/
  3. Declarations of Racism as a Public Health Issue. Accessed October 14, 2020. https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/health-equity/racism-and-health/racism-declarations
  4. Mass racial violence in the United States. In: Wikipedia. ; 2021. Accessed January 10, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mass_racial_violence_in_the_United_States&oldid=998986256
  5. Fryer RG, Jr. An Empirical Analysis of Racial Differences in Police Use of Force. National Bureau of Economic Research; 2016. doi:10.3386/w22399
  6. Olick D. A troubling tale of a Black man trying to refinance his mortgage. CNBC. Published August 19, 2020. Accessed January 10, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/19/lenders-deny-ortgages-for-blacks-at-a-rate-80percent-higher-than-whites.html
  7. Mapping Inequality. Accessed September 18, 2020. https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/
  8. Chang A. The data proves that school segregation is getting worse. Vox. Published March 5, 2018. Accessed January 14, 2021. https://www.vox.com/2018/3/5/17080218/school-segregation-getting-worse-data
  9. Introducing: Nice White Parents. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-parents-serial.html. Published July 23, 2020. Accessed January 10, 2021.
  10. MUSE Winston-Salem. Foodways and Roadways: Finding Our Way Home.; 2016. Accessed January 10, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHCvXhn8oLY&feature=youtu.be
  11. Wines M. What Is Gerrymandering? And How Does it Work? (Published 2019). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/us/what-is-gerrymandering.html. Published June 27, 2019. Accessed January 10, 2021.
  12. Newkirk II VR. Voter Suppression Is Warping Democracy. The Atlantic. Published July 17, 2018. Accessed January 14, 2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/poll-prri-voter-suppression/565355/
  13. Edwards F, Lee H, Esposito M. Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex. PNAS. 2019;116(34):16793-16798. doi:10.1073/pnas.1821204116
  14. The 1619 Project (Published 2019). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html. Published August 14, 2019. Accessed January 10, 2021.
  15. Rothstein R. The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Illustrated Edition. Liveright; 2017.
  16. De Facto vs De Jure Segregation - Difference. Accessed January 10, 2021. https://difference.guru/difference-between-de-facto-and-de-jure-segregation/
  17. Wilkerson I. Caste (Oprah’s Book Club): The Origins of Our Discontents. Random House; 2020.
  18. Race, Ancestry, and Medical Research | Research, Methods, Statistics | JAMA | JAMA Network. Accessed September 4, 2020. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2703954
  19. Vyas DA, Eisenstein LG, Jones DS. Hidden in Plain Sight — Reconsidering the Use of Race Correction in Clinical Algorithms. Malina D, ed. N Engl J Med. 2020;383(9):874-882. doi:10.1056/NEJMms2004740
  20. Issaka RB. Good for Us All. JAMA. 2020;324(6):556-557. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12630