Category Archives: Health Disparities

In New York City, pandemic policing reproduced familiar patterns of racial disparities

In the past month, New York City has rolled back most of the public health mandates first put in place to control the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020, such as social distancing and mask wearing mandates. Now, new research … Continue reading

Posted in COVID-19, Ethnicity, Health Disparities, Mass Incarceration, Neighborhood Environments, Pandemic, Race, Racism, Social Environments, Spatial Analysis, Urban Health | Leave a comment

The politics of depression: Associations between political beliefs and adolescent mental health

In a manuscript recently published in SSM Mental Health, Catherine Gimbrone and colleagues investigated the role that political beliefs play in shaping adolescent psychological wellbeing. After decades of relative stability, adolescent mental health has sharply declined over the past decade, … Continue reading

Posted in Depression, Gender, Health Disparities, Mental Health, Socioeconomic Status | Leave a comment

How neighborhoods and infrastructure can impact HIV transmission among Black sexual minority men

Individual risky behaviors (ex. condomless sex, multiple partners, drug use) have long been a focus of HIV research and intervention strategies for sexual minority men (SMM). However, focusing on the individual level obscures the effects of broader societal influences and … Continue reading

Posted in Health Disparities, Neighborhood Disadvantage, Neighborhood Environments, Physical Disorder, Race, Racial Segregation, Urban Health | Leave a comment

“Black men loving Black men is the revolutionary act”1: Racial sexual exclusivity as both an effect and a protection against discrimination for Black sexual minority men

Often in public health, sexual relationships between Black gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men (SMM) are framed as sources of risk and disease, especially in terms of HIV transmission. However, Black queer activists have long known that cultivating loving … Continue reading

Posted in Depression, Ethnicity, Health Disparities, Mental Health, Race, Racism, Social Networks | Leave a comment

Severe COVID-19 Projections: Data Visualization Tool

An online data visualization tool has just been released that allows users to explore the COVID-19 projections being released weekly by Jeff Shaman’s lab at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.  These data have been powering Columbia’s interactive … Continue reading

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Mapping Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 11% of households and nearly 16% of families with children were food insecure. With schools closed and families out of work, food insecurity rates are expected to skyrocket in the coming months. During the crisis, … Continue reading

Posted in Food Insecurity, Health Disparities, Info-Graphix, Mapping, Pandemic, Socioeconomic Status, Spatial Analysis | Leave a comment

Updated: County Level Estimates of Highly Stressed Health Care Systems

The Built Environmental and Health Research Group’s online mapping tool has been updated with new data showing counties that are at high risk of experiencing patient volumes that exceed their hospital capacity over the next 6 weeks.  The maps show at risk … Continue reading

Posted in COVID-19, Health Care, Health Disparities, Mapping, Spatial Analysis | Leave a comment

COVID-19 Related School Closings and Risk of Weight Gain Among Children.

Andrew Rundle and colleagues wrote a Perspective article for The Obesity Society’s journal Obesity, to call attention to the COVID-19 pandemic’s likely longer-term effect on children’s health. In many areas of the U.S., the COVID-19 pandemic has closed schools and … Continue reading

Posted in Ethnicity, Health Disparities, Obesity, Physical Activity, Race | Leave a comment

County Level Estimates of When Hospital Capacity will be Overwhelmed

A multi-institution team led by Charles Branas, and including Andrew Rundle and staff from the Social and Spatial Epidemiology Unit, has been making county level estimates for the U.S. of the time until health systems are overwhelmed with patients.  The … Continue reading

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Estimated ICU Beds Available to Respond to Patient Surges

Social and Spatial Epidemiology Unit members Charles Branas and Andrew Rundle, along with colleagues from Patient Insight, the Mount Sinai Health System and MIT, have created estimates of the number of hospital critical care beds, including ICU beds and other … Continue reading

Posted in Health Care, Health Disparities, Mapping, Spatial Analysis | Leave a comment