Dear John,

ICYMI, Joel Weissman of Brigham and Women's Hospital joined A Health Podyssey to discuss his recent paper identifying how hospitals are addressing the effects of structural racism and the ways in which health equity officers have become leaders to enact change.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Buprenorphine Receipt

In their Datawatch article in the October issue of Health Affairs, Jennifer Miles and coauthors examine racial and ethnic disparities in buprenorphine receipt among Medicare disability beneficiaries with diagnosed opioid use disorder (OUD) or opioid overdose.

Between 2015-19, the percentage of Medicare disability beneficiaries with an OUD or opioid overdose receiving buprenorphine increased for all racial and ethnic groups, with increases most pronounced for American Indian/Alaska Native beneficiaries. 

Despite this increase, buprenorphine receipt rates for all minoritized groups were lower than the receipt rate for White beneficiaries in each year. 

The authors found that in 2015, “relative to White beneficiaries, buprenorphine receipt was lowest among Black beneficiaries, at 4.9 percent in 2015 (36 percent of the rate for Whites), without substantial improvement throughout the study period.”

Health Affairs Branded Post:

Centering Diverse Communities In Clinical Trial Research And Engagement

Niesha Foster and Rita Carreon

Sponsored by Pfizer Multicultural Health Equity Collective

For our October issue on Tackling Structural Racism in Health, we were excited to include a Narrative Matters piece by Dr. Ryan J. Petteway.

In his poem entitled proc prun / roses, Petteway “engages poetry as praxis to reflect on matters of (mis)representation, procedural justice, and epistemic justice within public health knowledge production on place-based racial health inequities.”

For the Issue Briefing held on October 3, he shared this poem.

Revisit his reading below and learn more about what inspired Petteway to write this poem in an accompanying Forefront interview with the poet.

Addressing Perinatal Mental Health With A Diverse Workforce: A National Call To Action

Nalani Thomas et al.