While access to health care continues to be a challenge for many Black Americans, their opportunity to attain optimal health is also impacted by a variety of social factors, according to Kyaien Conner, associate professor in USF’s Department of Mental Health Law & Policy. Unless the significant disparities in who has access to education at all levels, gainful employment and safe and affordable housing, as well as in who is over-represented in the criminal justice system, are addressed, disparities in health outcomes will persist. In this wide-ranging conversation, Conner also explores the historical issue of mistrust in the Black community with regard to health care and mental health care, the need for more providers of color, the importance of medical students learning cultural humility and a recent grant award that supports her community-based Care Transitions Intervention research. Conner also shares her passion for West African dance and the “life-changing moment” when she learned she had been selected as a member of the cast for the Eddie Murphy comedy, “Coming 2 America.”
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