Welcome! Below is a selection of the latest research and updates related to Black women’s health.
In addition to the studies and reports below, I lift up the lived experiences of Black women, experiences which have often already confirmed for us what the studies and articles report.
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American Cancer Society launches major study of Black women’s health
The American Cancer Society has launched VOICES of Black Women, a study enrolling over 100,000 Black women between the ages of 25 and 55. The largest study of its kind, it will focus on behavioral and environmental cancer risks and outcomes, to better understand how the lived experiences of Black women may affect their cancer risk or mortality.
A new discovery has been made toward finding a cure for lupus
Researchers at Northwestern Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have identified a cause for lupus – a cellular defect that appears to drive the disease process. Their study shows that reversing the defect may reverse the disease.
Over at Essence, an encouraging article: ‘Do All The Things’: A Therapist On The Benefit Of Taking A Holistic Approach To Your Mental Health
Essence interviews trauma therapist Anita Phillips, who talks about mental health in the Black community and the importance of incorporating the full range of supportive therapies and strategies for mental and spiritual health.
A survey of the Society for Interventional Radiology shows that women with uterine fibroids are likely to be presented with a hysterectomy as the preferred treatment to less-invasive treatment options. Fibroids are three times more common in Black women, and the survey noted disparities in awareness and access to treatment among Black and Hispanic women.
Changemaker for Black Women’s Health:
Illustrate Change & Chidiebere Ibe
Nigerian medical student and illustrator Chidiebere Ibe founded Illustrate Change, the world’s largest open-source digital library of medical illustrations featuring people of color.
For Ibe, diverse representation in medical illustration is tied to health equity, as physicians have traditionally been trained using textbooks filled with photos of white patients – even when the subject is an illness that disproportionately impacts Black people. He’s created Illustrate Change in order to help foster health systems that can care well for Black patients.
See here for more about Illustrate Change and Ibe’s work.