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COVID-19 disparity among Black Americans: A call to action for nurse scientists. Research in Nursing & Health

At the time of this writing, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected over 13 million individuals worldwide, with over 3.4 million infected in the United States (US). The highly infectious virus has claimed over 137,000 US lives and this number increases daily. While COVID-19 does not discriminate, data illuminate an eerily familiar pattern of disproportionate infection and mortality among communities of color. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020), national data on confirmed coronavirus cases by race and ethnicity as of April 17, 2020 indicated that despite Blacks accounting for 13% of the US population, they accounted for 34% of COVID-19 confirmed cases. Data quickly emerged revealing alarming disparities among COVID-19 mortality with Blacks dying at a rate of 2–3 times their proportion of the population. This disparate mortality is seen among 32 states, including those in the region served by the Southern Nursing Research Society (Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center, 2020). For example, Blacks represent 27% of the population of Alabama and 46% of COVID-19 deaths, Georgia 31% and 49%, and Kentucky; 8% and 17%(the COVID Project at the Atlantic, n.d.).

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Dimensions of Wellbeing
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Color Conscience: A Move Toward Anti-racism. Critical Care

We write this editorial at a time of great civil unrest in the United States, following the public murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed by Minneapolis police officers, and Breonna Taylor, an innocent Kentucky woman killed by police serving a no-knock warrant. These 2 deaths were among the many unjust atrocities committed against Blacks that have been repeated far too many times in our history. Amid a pandemic, when stresses have been heightened and people have felt little control over their own lives, Floyd’s death triggered outrage and, more importantly, the recognition of the need for action to dismantle structural racism. LaToya Nolan, a Black medical student, described a situation from her university class held on the Monday following George Floyd’s death: the professor asked the students if they had a “nice weekend.”1  As the only Black student in the class, she did not feel safe to freely speak up about the trauma and grief that she was experiencing related to the atrocities being inflicted on Black people. Nolan’s story is just 1 example of how White privilege is a barrier to supporting Black people. Another issue of injustice is the too familiar pattern of White people weaponizing authorities against Black people, such as Amy Cooper, a privileged White woman, who called the police and falsely accused a Black man who was birdwatching in a New York City park— an incident that was unjustified and racist. Some of you may be growing tired of hearing about Black Lives Matter.2  What about those who have grown tired of living it?

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Dimensions of Wellbeing
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Transitioning Youth With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to Adult Health Care

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood neurodevelopmental diseases and nearly two thirds of children with ADHD have symptoms that persist into adulthood. Approximately 750,000 children with special health care needs transition from pediatric to adult health care annually in the United States. For youth with ADHD, organized, coordinated, and systematic care transition from pediatric to adult health care providers is essential to prevent negative consequences related to unmanaged ADHD symptoms and to optimize health and promote maximum functioning. The Got Transition model’s 6 core elements provide a guide to support successful transition for adolescents with ADHD., 

Document Category
Dimensions of Wellbeing
Publication Authors

Dianna D. Inman, DNP, CPNP-BC, Leslie K. Scott, PhD, PPCNP-BC, and Mollie E. Aleshire, DNP, FNP-BC

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The Impact of Psychiatric Disorder Diagnosis on Motivation to Quit and Stage of Change Among Patients at a Hospital-Based Outpatient Smoking Cessation Clinic

Smoking is among the greatest international public health concerns, causing excessive levels of preventable premature death, disability, and economic costs...

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Dimensions of Wellbeing
Published Date

Physical activity in diabetes: Is any better than none? Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications

All-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk in U.S. adults with and without type 2 diabetes: Influence of physical activity, pharmacological treatment and glycemic control...

Document Category
Dimensions of Wellbeing
Publication Authors

April P. Carson, Lovoria B. Williams, and Alethea N. Hill

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Use of My HealtheVet Patient Web Portal among Veterans Seen for Diabetes Mellitus at a Medical Center in the Southeastern United States.

An increasing number of studies have examined the use of information technology to improve diabetes care and patient self-management...

Document Category
Dimensions of Wellbeing
Published Date

Patient Web Portals, Disease Management, and Primary Prevention

Efforts aimed at health care reform and continued advances in information technologies have prompted interest among providers and researchers in patient web portals…

Document Category
Dimensions of Wellbeing
Published Date

A Systematic Review of Studies of Web Portals for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Patient web portals are password-protected online websites that offer patients 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere with an Internet connection… 

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Dimensions of Wellbeing
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Percent Weight Reduction Required to Achieve Minimal Clinically Important Improvements in Health-related Quality of Life among African Americans:  A Secondary Analysis of the Fit Body and Soul Study

To calculate the percent weight reduction required to achieve minimal clinically important improvement (MCII) in health-related quality of life (HRQOL)…

Document Category
Dimensions of Wellbeing
Published Date

Healthy Lifestyle Intervention for African American Uterine Cancer Survivors: Study Protocol. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications

Background Cancer of the uterine corpus is the most common gynecologic malignancy and the fourth most common cancer in U.S. women…

Document Category
Dimensions of Wellbeing
Publication Authors

Jessica Lynn Stewart, Gina B. Besenyi, Lovoria B. Williams, Victoria Burt, Judith Camele Anglin, Sharad A. Ghamande, and Steven Scott Coughlin

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