In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • OMH Supplement and Emerging Adults, Clinical Care, and Minoritized Populations
  • Virginia M. Brennan, PhD, MA

This quarter, as classes resume at Meharry Medical College, we are publishing our regular issue and a supplemental issue sponsored by the Office of Minority Health (OMH). The open-access OMH supplement represents work supported by the office in the form of grants. Topics range from sickle cell disease to programs for Black and Latine youth to interpretation programs for people speaking minority languages. Papers were selected after blind peer review. (Initially, 90 abstracts were submitted and underwent review by OMH and JHCPU. Based on that review, we invited 56 authors to submit papers for peer review. The 18 published papers are the ones that did best in the blind peer review process.)

The bulk of the regular issue concerns (1) emerging adults and pediatric patients, (2) clinical care, and (3) minoritized populations. There are also important papers on policy and politics, HIV, inadequate housing, and homelessness.

Emerging adults and pediatric patients

Most of the papers in this section focus on emerging adults, while two analyze pediatric data. Justice-involvement often collaterally affects adolescent and pediatric populations. Boch et al. investigated the intersection of parental justice involvement and child health by examining electronic health records in which parental justice involvement was attested. Achebe et al. conducted a qualitative study with justice-involved young adult (JIYA) men who identified as Black or Latino to understand their views of HIV risk and prevention. Kennedy et al. worked with transition-aged youth experiencing homelessness who were moving to transitional housing on a motivational interviewing program to reduce health risks. Jones et al. explored the prevalence of Multiracial/ethnic identity and its association with mental health among high school students, finding that over one out of five students in a large dataset identified as Multiracial/ethnic, and that Multiracial/ethnic identification predicted certain mental health concerns. Chase-Begay et al. looked at a large pediatric population by analyzing data from the National Survey of Children's Health (n = 145,226). They find that caregiver-perceived cultural sensitivity on the part of providers was associated with child health status.

Clinical care

In addition to Boch's study of clinician notes regarding parental justice involvement, several other papers in this issue concern clinical care. While sodicumglucose transporter-2-inhibitors (SGTL2i) are recommended by the American Diabetes Association guidelines, they are not always prescribed. Chu et al. investigated the prescription of SGTL2i to diabetic patients in a safety-net clinic and what clinical factors were associated with it. Wu et al. explored with health care and community partners the success of a population-based social determinants of health (SDOH) intervention [End Page vi] consisting of SDOH screening, a community health worker program, and a digital referral platform. Raber et al. also stayed in the community health care setting, looking at food is medicine programming in a federally qualified health center. Finally, Adu et al. describe the implementation of ophthalmology nights at a free clinic.

Minoritized populations

Four papers train their focus on one or more minoritized populations: racial and ethnic minority groups, transgender people in Jamaica, and Indigenous people in Taiwan. Wright et al. examined ethnoracial differences in SDOH and their associations with acute mental health symptoms among patients hospitalized after emergency care, using data from a multi-site study of 1,318 diverse adults admitted to inpatient units. The authors find complex associations. While Multiracial/Indigenous and Black adults had significantly higher discrimination and financial stress scores, both Black and Latine adults sustained greater mental health in adversity than non-Hispanic White adults. Jones et al. analyzed 2021 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N=17,232) data to explore Multiracial/ethnic identity and any association with mental health conditions. Most students identifying as Multiracial/ethnic also identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or Hispanic or Latino. Multiracial/ethnic students who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black, and White were disproportionately likely to suffer from persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, while Multiracial/ethnic Asian students were at increased risk for all four mental health indicators measured.

Christie looks at another minoritized...

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