Browse Author by Tiffany Nicole Fletcher

Black Women’s Health Update – March 18, 2024

Hi! Thanks for being here.

Below is a selection of the latest research and updates related to Black women’s health. Just as important as these studies and reports are the lived experiences of Black women, which are valid evidence in and of themselves. These studies often confirm what we already know, because we are living and experiencing it.

At Miami conference, presentation connects racial disparities in treatment and care with Black women’s drastically higher rate of dying of breast cancer

At the 2024 Miami Breast Cancer Conference this month, radiation oncologist Dr. Reshma Jagsi presented on disparities in breast cancer treatment for Black women. Noting that Black women in the U.S. have a death rate from breast cancer that is 40% higher than that of white women, she detailed how these disparities might come from specific racial disparities in care and treatment, such as Black women’s likelihood of receiving less efficient and more toxic radiotherapy treatment regimens. “In order to respect human dignity, we cannot allow these disparities to persist,” Jagsi said.

New software to combat health inequities is being rolled out

A health equity software program called Truity has been designed to help combat bias, institutionalized racism, and the resulting inequities in patient care. It’s used in real time by physicians, helping to guide their decisions in patient care and treatment. Mayo Clinic and Morehouse School of Medicine are among the institutions beginning to use the platform.

Calling & Life Purpose, Healing, Peace, Personal Growth, Resilience, Self-care, Spirituality

A Love Letter to You About Your Calling & Purpose

Your calling has already found you.

I was meeting with my spiritual director recently and I said, “I feel like my calling chose me – like: it has me; I don’t have it.” I was describing the experience of feeling carried by something larger than myself, for a greater purpose (which is a huge blessing, by the way), and not having ultimate control in that process.

I’ve been thinking about that ever since, how I’ve come far enough now in life to understand that our vocations and callings are not something we have to struggle to figure out. I think we’re born into a purpose and that just by living our lives authentically, we can walk our way right into it, discover that we’re part of something larger, have been placed here for a specific and worthwhile reason for being.

A lot of the time we resist, insistent on trying to accomplish the way of our own choosing. I’m sure that sometimes the two are in alignment – what we want for our life’s mission and what life wants of us – but other times, and especially if our path is not meant to be a traditional one, not the way of the crowd, we try and go another way. The way our culture, parents, peer group, or schooling dictates for us. From the time we’re born, voices are constantly shouting “This is who you are.” Part of our life journey is to discover who we really are, what we have been created for, and what life wants to create for and through us. Then to have the courage to say to the world at some point, “This is who I am.”

Black Women's Health Updates

Black Women’s Health Update – March 2, 2024

Here’s the latest selection of research and updates related to Black women’s health:

Revealing Disparities: Health Care Workers’ Observations of Discrimination Against Patients

The Commonwealth Fund has released the results of a study on discrimination against patients in health care settings. It shows that nearly half of all health care workers have witnessed this discrimination; workers at healthcare facilities with mostly Black or Latino patients witness discrimination at higher rates; and half of healthcare workers say racism against patients is a major problem. The report includes recommendations for change.

Potential link between high maternal cortisol, unpredicted birth complications

A study in Psychoneuroendocrinology indicates that pregnant patients with higher cortisol levels also had higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression – and these higher cortisol levels were also linked to higher levels of unpredicted birth complications during pregnancy and in the early postpartum period. This has implications for the maternal mortality crisis disproportionately impacting Black women in the United States.

Contemplative Practice, Emotional Support, Facing Challenge, Grief, Healing, Mindfulness, Peace, Personal Growth, Resilience, Self-care, Spiritual Practice

Married to Amazement: The Gift of Curiosity

My friends tell me that I ask great questions. It’s no wonder that I became someone who asks questions as a healing practice.

The truth is I’m just endlessly curious. I love learning about people, about life, and especially about spiritual things. That’s probably why I read so much.

Recently, it occurred to me that I could intentionally use curiosity as an approach to problems and challenges.

So much of life is mystery, isn’t it? How do you face the mystery of life? The issues, questions, challenges? I don’t know about you, but the mysterious makes me curious, and curiosity is at least a much more interesting approach to the mystery of life than fear.

Curiosity used in this way might look like:

an openness of heart
an open-mindedness to the experience of life
a continuing acknowledgment of all that you don’t know; living from a place of humility
a willingness to be surprised by life
a willingness to be patient with yourself and with life’s complexity

Poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote,

Black Women's Health Updates

Black Women’s Health Update – February 16, 2024

I’m excited to share a new series of posts here – a regular listing of research, updates, and resources about Black women’s health and wellness. I’ll be including a selection of these updates in my monthly newsletter, so please sign up here if you’d like to receive these automatically in your inbox.

As a Black women who lives with chronic illness and who has had extensive involvement with the industrialized medical system in the U.S., I am well aware of the challenges Black women are facing when it comes to our health, as well as the systemic racism embedded in the very system that is supposed to provide care.

Not enough is shared about the state of Black women’s health – neither among Black women nor in broader societal conversations around health and wellness. It’s critical that we start lifting up the conditions affecting Black women, and moving toward better outcomes and improved lives.

Here’s the latest roundup of news:

‘I was terrified’: Black women may prefer Black OB-GYNs due to fear of discrimination, dying during pregnancy [NBC News]

A small study has indicated that pregnant Black women prefer seeing a Black obstetrician but may have a hard time finding one. The article also notes:

“Black women’s fear of dying during pregnancy and childbirth is a reflection of real-life risks. The maternal mortality rate of Black women in 2021 was 2.6 times higher than the rate of white women, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A 2022 report by the Pew Research Center also found that 71% of Black women ages 18 to 49 reported having at least one negative experience with health care providers in the past.”

Congressional leaders reintroduce bipartisan Protect Black Women and Girls Act [The Hill]

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has reintroduced a bill that would establish a task force to examine the conditions and experiences of Black women and girls in America – including racial disparities in health care, salary and education.