Associations between Experiences of Police Contact and Discrimination by the Police and Courts and Health Outcomes in a Representative Sample of Adults in New York City.

Communities marginalized because of racism, heterosexism, and other systems of oppression have a history of being aggressively policed, and in those contexts, researchers have observed associations between a range of negative experiences with police and poor physical, mental, and behavioral health outcomes. However, past studies have been limited in that experiences of police contacts were aggregated at the neighborhood level and, if police contacts were self-reported, the sample was not representative. To address these limitations, we employed NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene 2017 Social Determinants of Health Survey (n = 2335) data to examine the associations of self-reported police contacts and discrimination by police and the courts with measures of physical (poor physical health), mental (poor mental health, serious psychological distress), and behavioral health (binge drinking).

Framing a Needed Discourse on Health Disparities and Social Inequities: Drawing Lessons from a Pandemic.

COVID-19 provides numerous opportunities for policy makers to consider matters of social equity in relation to the field of public health. Specifically, by reflecting on health disparities in relation to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on minority and historically underserved populations, we can leverage a needed discourse on health outcomes for many communities. Grounded in the social determinants of health conceptual framework, this essay explores the application of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 to vulnerable populations and communities of color for a discussion of strategies for minimizing health disparities.