COVID-19 Devastation of African American Families: Impact on Mental Health and the Consequence of Systemic Racism.

Sahra Ibrahimi,Chioma Ikedionwu,Korede K Yusuf,Hamisu M Salihu,Deepa Dongarwar,Sitratullah Olawunmi Maiyegun

doi:10.21106/ijma.408

Abstract

African Americans are bearing a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 pandemic. To our knowledge, no previous study has delineated inequities potentially incentivized by systemic racism, and whether synergistic effects impose an abnormally high burden of social determinants of mental health on African American families in the era of COVID-19 pandemic. We applied the social ecological model (SEM) to portray inequities induced by systemic racism that impact the mental health of African American families. In our model, we identified systemic racism to be the primary operator of mental health disparity, which disproportionately affects African American families at all levels of the SEM. Programs tailored towards reducing the disproportionate detrimental effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of African Americans need to be culturally appropriate and consider the nuances of systemic racism, discrimination, and other institutionalized biases.

Highlights

COVID-19 pandemic has further unveiled the distressful reality of racial disparity in the United States
The rapid search yielded 30 research articles and only seven of them were included in this review.We found that COVID-19 disproportionately impacts African American families and their mental health due to systemic racism, which intensifies the adverse effects of the social determinants of mental health
From the social ecological model (SEM) we found that at the individual level, African Americans may experience stress from perceived knowledge of COVID-19 that may be inaccurate and may stem from biased information presented by the local media and other social media networks

Summary

Introduction

COVID-19 pandemic has further unveiled the distressful reality of racial disparity in the United States. African Americans are bearing a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. In many cities like Chicago, African Americans are only 30% of the population, they make up more than 50% of COVID-19 cases and about 70% of COVID-19 deaths.[1] COVID-19 health and economic consequences have a detrimental effect on mental health,[2] among African Americans.3According to Kaiser Health News report, compared with the rest of the population, African American adults are 20% more likely to experience mental health issues. Systemic racism exacerbates the adverse impacts of social determinants of health, causing racial health disparities in African Americans.[2]. COVID-19 and the Mental Health of African Americans

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Conclusion