Abstract
Low birth weight (LBW) rates remain the highest among African Americans despite public health efforts to address these disparities; with some of the highest racial disparities in the Midwest (Kansas). The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) perspective offers an explanation for how LBW contributes to racial health disparities among African Americans and informs a community directed health communication framework for creating sustainable programs to address these disparities. Trusted community organizations such as faith-based organizations are well situated to explain health communication gaps that may occur over the life course. These entities are underutilized in core health promotion programming targeting underserved populations and can prove essential for addressing developmental origins of LBW among African Americans. Extrapolating from focus group data collected from African American church populations as part of a social marketing health promotion project on cancer prevention, we theoretically consider how a similar communication framework and approach may apply to address LBW disparities. Stratified focus groups (n = 9) were used to discover emergent themes about disease prevention, and subsequently applied to explore how faith-based organizations (FBOs) inform strategic health care (media) advocacy and health promotion that potentially apply to address LBW among African Americans. We argue that FBOs are poised to meet health promotion and health communication needs among African American women who face social barriers in health.
Highlights
We argue that faith-based organizations (FBOs) are poised to meet health promotion and health communication needs among African American women who face social barriers in health
The long lasting implications of low birth weight (LBW) coupled with the persistent challenges of inequality and cultural barriers highlights the potential role of a community directed health communication approach that incorporates the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD)
The following three salient themes emerged about health care access, cost and FBOs as social marketing (SM) within a DOHaD context: FBOs Help Reduce Medical Cost Worry
Summary
Low Birth Weight and DOHaD among African Americans. Racial disparities in low birth weight (LBW) are pervasive among minority populations, especially among African Americans (AA) [1]. The percentage of low birthweights of all births for AA is nearly double that of non-Hispanic whites [2]. Kansas has the highest infant mortality rates for non-Hispanic blacks in the U.S (14.8), with Missouri rating poorly (12.4) [3]. AA have nearly double the low birth weight rates of non-Hispanic whites in both Kansas. While national and local public health promotion efforts to address these problems have made contributions to improve maternal and infant health among AAs, LBW disparities remain a public concern. The long lasting implications of LBW coupled with the persistent challenges of inequality and cultural barriers highlights the potential role of a community directed health communication approach that incorporates the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
