… and minors in Education and African American Studies. During his time at … new course offering on contemporary African American Playwrights to help diversify and … use storytelling to dismantle systemic racism and oppression within the American … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News
Culturally Sensitive Approaches to Promoting Car Seat Safety for African American Children.
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(ThyBlackMan.com) As a parent or caregiver, the safety and well-being of our children are our top priority. However, car accidents continue to pose a significant threat to children across the United States, and African American children are particularly vulnerable.
According to a study, African American children are nearly twice as likely to die in motor vehicle crashes as white children. This may be because they live in neighborhoods with inadequate infrastructures, such as sidewalks, warning signs, and fewer vehicle safety features.
In light of this alarming statistic, there is a need for culturally sensitive approaches to promote car seat safety for African American children. Continue reading to find the best ways to address underlying factors contributing to increased risk and ensure the safety of all children on the road, regardless of race or ethnicity.
1. Addressing Cost Barriers
Factors such as lower average incomes and higher poverty rates in some African American communities can contribute to financial challenges that make it challenging for families to purchase car seats. With prices ranging from $50 to $500, it can be incredibly challenging for families with multiple children who require car seats to afford the high costs.
To address this issue, collaborate with community organizations, government agencies, and car seat manufacturers to provide low-cost or free car seats to needy families. Many states already have programs and non-profit organizations that offer accessible car seats to low-income families, for instance, Safe Kids USA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the Children’s Trust Fund.
Another cost-effective option is convertible car seats that can be used from infancy through toddlerhood, reducing the need to purchase multiple car seats. Brands like Diono, which offer a wide range of car seats that are both safe and affordable, can play an essential role in promoting car seat safety in America.
2. Promoting Inclusivity and Representation
Representation matters, especially in promoting car seat safety in African American communities. Many black individuals and families feel excluded from mainstream car seat marketing and advertising, which often features predominantly white families.
To address this issue, it’s essential you collaborate with brands and use imagery that reflects the diversity of American families in car seat marketing. Similarly, brands need to remember that advertising is vital to promote inclusivity. This can include images of families of different sizes and skin tones and images. Partnering with African American influencers and bloggers can also help to reach a wider audience and promote the importance of car seat safety in a relatable and culturally sensitive way.
3. Partnering with Community Leaders and Organizations
Community leaders, including pastors, teachers, and social workers, are seen as trusted members who can promote the values of safety in African American communities. Partnering with these leaders and organizations can reach a wider audience and promote the importance of car seat safety in a relatable and culturally sensitive way.
You can organize community events, such as health fairs or safety workshops, that provide education and resources on car seat safety in partnership with community leaders and organizations. Feature interactive displays and demonstrations of correctly installing and using car seats using culturally appropriate language and imagery in such events. The materials should feature diverse families of different sizes, skin tones, and structures, reflecting the diversity of African American communities.
Effective Strategies for Promoting Car Seat Safety
You can implement various strategies to promote car seat safety in your community, for example:
- Community Education: Community education can be provided through workshops, seminars, training sessions, and church These sessions should cover topics such as the importance of car seat safety, how to properly install car seats, and the different types of car seats available.
- Collaboration with Local Law Enforcement: Law enforcement officers can educate and train the community on car seat safety and ensure families comply with the law.
- Social Media: Social media campaigns can disseminate information about car seat safety and provide resources to families. You can utilize platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to share videos, graphics, and other materials on how to keep children safe from automobile accidents.
- Incentive Programs: These can be used to encourage families to use car seats properly. Incentives can include discounts on car seats, accessible car seats, or other rewards for families who demonstrate proper car seat usage.
Endnote
In conclusion, promoting car seat safety in African American communities requires a culturally sensitive approach to addressing unique needs and challenges. By understanding the historical context of car seat safety, addressing cost barriers, promoting inclusivity and representation, and partnering with community leaders and organizations, we can work to ensure that all African American children are protected while traveling in vehicles. By adopting these strategies, we can promote a culture of car safety and protect our children’s lives.
Staff Writer; Brian Love
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‘An o-o-old song’: Billy Waters, the African American musician who captivated 1820s London
Two hundred years ago today, a one-legged Black pauper lay in the infirmary of the St Giles-in-the-Fields workhouse, slowly fading away. It was a sad end to the remarkable life of Billy Waters – the first African American musician to become celebrated in Britain.
Billy, as he was widely known, didn’t perform on any stage. He fiddled, sang and danced as a busker on the streets of London’s West End. It was his sole means of supporting his beloved “Poll” and their two young children. But busking was deemed begging – and illegal. Billy constantly risked arrest, and some months prior to his final sickness he was taken to court and threatened with prison if caught again. Before entering the workhouse he pawned his fiddle.
Billy Waters died on 21 March 1823. In his last years he became a legendary figure, hailed as a genius by writer and dramatist Douglas Jerrold, who had seen him perform. But hard facts about Waters are few, and in their absence he’s remained obscure – his origins unknown save that he was once a sailor.
On the bicentenary of his death, a measure of justice is coming at last to this pioneering Black Londoner. An Early Day Motion tabled in parliament by Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Streatham, recognises Waters’ contribution to popular culture in Britain; and a commemorative plaque by the Nubian Jak Community Trust will be unveiled where he lived in the former St Giles Rookery.
Why has it taken so long for Waters to gain wide recognition? As a roots-music writer, I only came across him by chance a few years ago in Dublin, where I found a striking image of Waters on a collection of minstrel tunes – the only published music with any link to him, almost certainly indirect. Who was this extraordinary looking man? I was intrigued and began researching, reading and listening. The outline of a life started to emerge.
In the National Archives in Kew, the muster-book of the ship he sailed on revealed that William Waters was born in New York during the American revolution; and that in 1811, at the climax of the Napoleonic wars, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as an able seaman – an experienced sailor. At first he was on the supply-ship HMS Namur whose captain was Jane Austen’s brother Charles. Waters then joined the crew of HMS Ganymede, and was soon promoted to quarter gunner, with the rank of petty officer. The 26-gun frigate led a convoy from Portsmouth to Spain; but on the voyage home, while loosening sail aloft he slipped, and plummeted to the deck. The captain noted tersely: “Wm Waters fell from the main yard & broke both his legs, otherwise severely wounded him.” His left leg was amputated below the knee.
Growing up by New York’s waterfront, Billy Waters would have learned how to play fiddle and perform solo dances in dockside taverns and markets. Such agility and entertainment skills were valuable for any young sailor. As a wounded veteran in London he drew on them again to supplement a meagre pension, taking a pitch outside the Adelphi theatre on the Strand.
Thousands of people of all ages saw and heard Waters busking. His hallmark attire – large military-style headgear with feathers, judge’s “cauliflower” wig, tattered naval jacket – was a carnivalesque send-up of British authority. He sang and danced while fiddling and made use of his wooden leg to perform “peculiar antics” – pivoting on it, kicking it out. An engraving, “The Notorious Black Billy at Home to a London Street Party”, shows him in action flanked on one side by well-to-do citizens, on the other by children and tradespeople. A white youth mimics his steps.
Waters played for dancing, without accompaniment, and – since he needed to grab attention and be heard above street-cries and noise – his voice would be loud and penetrating, his bowing was probably rhythmic and vigorous, his touch well-accented and syncopated, his tone droning and scratchy. You can hear something similar in Sid Hemphill’s fiddling, with an echo too in Joe Thompson (1918–2012), the last traditional Black fiddler in North Carolina.
Waters embodied a spirit of lively defiance in dark times. In impoverished St Giles, nicknamed “The Holy Land” for its large Irish-Catholic population, he was a well-loved community musician. Waters and family lived in the notorious St Giles Rookery – a maze of narrow streets and courtyards with damp, dilapidated and horribly overcrowded houses, concealed passages and open sewers just a short distance from the British Museum. At night he played in a public house known as The Beggar’s Opera, the gathering-place of “cadgers”, vagrants, petty thieves, sex workers and street people.
The pub also attracted a few Regency bucks, or swells, who took delight in slumming – among them writer Pierce Egan and caricaturists George and Robert Cruikshank. In Egan’s hugely successful book Life in London, its three swell protagonists – said to be the author and the Cruikshank brothers – pay a visit to a barely disguised Beggar’s Opera. Though not named, Waters is described; and in a key illustration his profile is unmistakable. He became a famous lowlife character, ripe for further exploitation.
Life in London was swiftly adapted for the stage by William Moncrieff as Tom and Jerry, the names of the two principal swells, opening in late 1821 at the Adelphi – Waters’ pitch. In the celebrated Back Slums in the Holy Land scene, former clown Signor Paulo played the role of “Billy Waters” as a disdainful, bullying and ludicrous rogue, the leader of a group of hypocritical beggars. Tom and Jerry ran for a record-breaking 16 months.
This unearned reputation was a far cry from the real Waters, who we know through only two fragments of reported speech. One comes from TL Busby, the artist who created the portrait of Billy. He wrote circa 1820: “[Billy] has a wife, and, to use his own words, ‘one fine girl, five years old’, and is not a little proud to perceive a resemblance in the child to himself.”
The other fragment is from a newspaper account of his appearance at the Sheriff’s Court of Enquiry in Hatton Garden in 1822 – the same courthouse at which the young Oliver Twist would later appear in Charles Dickens’ novel. The magistrate told Waters sternly that he should take up the offer of a room at the navy’s Greenwich hospital, and his wife would be put “in a way to provide for herself” since she wasn’t allowed to join him, adding that if he was caught begging again he would be committed. Waters, however, declared “he would live and die constant to Poll”; and that nothing but force should separate him from her.
The real Waters suffered greatly from Tom and Jerry’s racist defamation, losing his good name and with it his income as a busker, and his very identity. In later life a remorseful Moncrieff wrote that Waters attended a performance and denounced Paulo, only for the audience to turn on Waters and violently eject him. The authorities also turned on him. Two weeks after Tom and Jerry’s opening he was arrested twice on the same day, charged with “begging and collecting crowds in the streets” and “singing immodest songs”. Wounded in spirit, a year later he was gone.
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Waters had fired the popular imagination like no other London street performer. A two-penny broadsheet purporting to show his funeral procession ran to at least 13 printings. References continued for decades: an illustration in Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor (1851) depicts a young Blackface fiddler dressed as Waters; an article on British minstrelsy recalls him as the subject of “hero-worship”; Victorian shadow-puppet shows featured “Billy Waters the London Fiddler”, and for more than 40 years ceramic figurines of him were made.
Sadly Waters left no music – just one bluesy couplet, with variants, from his signature song:
Polly will you marry me? Polly don’t you cry,
Polly come to bed with me and get a little boy
In 1959, in Mississippi, folk song collectors Alan Lomax and Shirley Collins recorded the octogenarian musician Sid Hemphill playing Polly Will You Marry Me? on homemade banjo. “That’s an o-o-old song,” he adds.
Waters played an important part in the history of popular entertainment in 19th-century Britain, more than a decade before the coming of blackface minstrelsy. He’s the ancestor of buskers, bluesmen, breakdancers, rockers and rappers everywhere – an urban folk hero whose story is resonant still: applauding the installation of the commemorative plaque, Ribeiro-Addy described him as “an inspiration for BAME, disabled and immigrant communities everywhere, and an early herald of the UK’s thriving Black performing arts community”.
Curiously, in certain respects Waters bears comparison with another African American performer well ahead of his time, who also dressed flamboyantly, performed “peculiar antics”, and lived in London’s West End, where he became famous for a few short years and where he died. But Jimi Hendrix died relatively rich; Billy Waters’ body was carried in a flimsy casket from the workhouse to the burial ground by Old St Pancras church, and interred in an unmarked, and unprotected, pauper’s grave.
Though much of Waters’ life remains in the shadows, he’s one of very few early Black performers we know anything about at all. He emerges from the margins of Regency society as an intelligent, skilful, and adventurous professional man, and a fun-loving father and husband. For a while he managed to defy the formidable odds stacked against a disabled Black immigrant. But there was no way to escape his ruthless exploitation.
Sickle Cell Disease Knowledge and Reproductive Decisions: A Saudi Cross-Sectional Study
Introduction
Medical genetics enhances the understanding of human diseases and reveals that almost all diseases are influenced by genetic variation. However, there are several challenges in the field, and the magnitude of the problem varies across the globe. Genetic disorders are more common in Arab countries with a high prevalence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency and hemoglobinopathies.1,2 Hemoglobinopathies are the most commonly inherited diseases in humans, and at least 5% of the world’s population are genetic carriers for them, of which 3.2% carry sickle cell disease (SCD).3,4
SCD is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by the production of abnormal hemoglobin S and is considered one of the most noteworthy single-gene disorders among human beings. The hallmark of the disease is episodic, recurrent, and unpredictable episodes of acute pain that are reflected on the patient’s health-related quality of life.5,6 Its prevalence has been significantly increasing in most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.7,8 Saudi Arabia is one of the most prone territories compared to its surrounding countries, particularly in the eastern and southern regions, which may be due to high rates of consanguineous marriages. Therefore, Saudi Arabia launched its premarital screening and genetic counselling program in 2004 to reduce the burden of hemoglobinopathy disorders.3 This program estimated that the sickle cell trait prevalence is 4.2% and the disease prevalence is 0.26%, with the Eastern province having the greatest prevalence (about 17% for trait and 1.2% for disease).7 However, decisions following the premarital screening results might be influenced by several factors. Thus, this study aims to assess the knowledge and beliefs of the community toward SCD and reproductive decisions.
Materials and Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to March 2021 among adults in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Using the Open Epi, the minimum required sample was calculated to be 384 by assuming that the proportion of adults’ knowledge is 50% at a confidence level of 95%, power of 80%, and a degree of precision of 5%.
Data was collected using a web-based, self-administered questionnaire that was sent via social media and included four sections: participants’ sociodemographic data, knowledge about SCD, beliefs on how SCD affects participants’ life, and reproductive decisions. For SCD knowledge each correct answer was scored one point and a total summation of the different items was collected. Participants were divided into two groups based on their knowledge scores; those with scores of less than 60% (4 points) of the maximum score were classified as having poor knowledge, while those with scores of 60% (5 points) or more of the maximum were classified as having good knowledge. To assess the validity and reliability of the questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.7), it was reviewed by two experts and piloted among 13 participants who were not part of the sample.
Collected data was analyzed using the International Business Machines (IBM) Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 23. The descriptive analysis was performed with frequencies and percentages for categorical variables, as well as the mean and standard deviation for continuous variables The significance of the association between categorical variables was evaluated using the chi-square test. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
The study was approved by King Faisal University’s ethical committee and complied with the Declaration of Helsinki. Also, participants provided their informed consent after being aware of the study’s aim, the benefits of conducting the study, confidentiality, and data anonymity.
Results
Characteristics of Participants
The knowledge and beliefs of the community toward SCD and reproductive decisions were evaluated among 390 participants from the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, with a mean age of 28.6 ± 11.9 years ranging from 18 to 55 years. The remaining participants’ demographic and general characteristics are shown in Table 1.
 |
Table 1 Demographic and General Characteristics (N=390) |
SCD Knowledge
Out of the 390 participants, 353 (90.5%) had general knowledge about the mode of inheritance of the disease, and 357 (91.5%) were aware that pain is the hallmark of the disease. Over half of the participants (51%) knew about stem cell transplantation as a form of SCD treatment, but only one-third knew about gene therapy. Although the majority of participants (79.5%) reported the blood sample as a diagnostic method, 234 (66.9%) had poor knowledge about the disease overall and its complications (Table 2).
 |
Table 2 Participant’s Knowledge About SCD (N=390) |
With regard to the relation between knowledge level and SCD status, there was no statistically significant difference between the non-healthy group (diseased and carrier) and healthy participants (37% vs 31.6%; P-value 0.304) (Figure 1).
 |
Figure 1 Association between level of SCD knowledge and SCD status. |
Beliefs About SCD
Regarding SCD beliefs, 329 (84.4%) of participants agreed that it is a serious disease, and 345 (88.7%) admitted that having a child with SCD is alarming and that such a child requires careful care. Further, 313 (80.3%) reported that having children with SCD will negatively affect their lives (Table 3).
 |
Table 3 Participant’s Beliefs on How SCD Affects Their Life (N=390) |
Marital and Reproductive Decision
The participants’ decisions about choosing future partners were more likely to be affected among those with prior knowledge about the disease severity compared to those with poor knowledge about it (97.7% vs 89.3%, p-value 0.008). However, female participants with prior knowledge would change their decision higher than male participants with no statistically significant (92.4% vs 91.6%, p-value 0.81).
Regarding reproduction, only 150 (38.5%) participants were aware of in vitro fertilization (IVF) as an assistive reproductive technology to have a healthy baby. Participants with good knowledge of IVF outnumbered those with poor knowledge of it (55% vs 30.3%, p-value 0.001). However, only 47 (36.4%) of those with good knowledge of IVF would consider it to have healthy children compared to 54 (20.7%) of those with poor knowledge of it (p-value 0.003). Furthermore, 102 (45.5%) female participants believed that IVF is a way to have healthy babies compared to 48 (28.9%) male participants (p-value 0.0001). Moreover, 67 (29.9%) women would consider IVF despite the cost compared to 34 (20.5%) men (p-value 0.007).
Discussion
There are globally increasing concerns and attention for the prevention of non-communicable diseases or chronic diseases.9 However, the establishment of preventive programs for hereditary diseases is central as well. This is particularly relevant for areas where these diseases are endemic and consanguinity has a major influence on their prevalence.10 Autosomal recessive diseases, particularly SCD, are quite prevalent in Saudi Arabia. This is mainly attributed to the increased rate of consanguinity, which can escalate to 50%. Furthermore, several disease-modifying agents such as hydroxyurea have a major role in improving the short- and long-term clinical course of SCD11,12 However, treatment suitability and the complex nature of the disease mandate multimodal therapy, which makes management challenging.13,14 Additionally, the economic burden of the disease itself and the cost of available curative treatment (eg, allogeneic stem cell transplant) is significant.15,16 In the US, the overall cost of SCD-related medical treatment usually increased with age, from $892 to $2562 per patient-month for patients ages 0 to 9 and 50 to 64 years, respectively.16 Although there is a lack of data on the financial impact of SCD in Saudi Arabia, it is expected to cost an average of $13,700 per patient per year in Gulf countries. Despite the fact that healthcare is free of charge in Saudi Arabia, SCD has a significant economic burden on Saudi society as well as an impact on the patient’s quality of life.17 Therefore, launching a premarital screening program is justified in this area.7,10
In our study, we found that the majority of the participants were aware of SCD’s mode of inheritance and pain as the main (and frequent) presentation of the disease. However, their knowledge about the short- and long-term complications of the disease was poor, which is highly consistent with the results of previous reports.18 However, a large percentage of the participants believed that having children with SCD will alter their quality of life. Impressively, our results revealed no statistical difference in knowledge between people with SCD and healthy participants, which emphasizes the urgent need for education programs that focus mainly on sufferers and carriers.
Marital decisions are influenced by several factors, including knowledge, culture, and personal background. Additionally, couples are not enforced to make decisions based on screening results. This means that prevention through premarital screening is unpredictable, and thus, another method of prevention should be mandated.7,19 In the current study, a lack of knowledge negatively affected the process of making marital decisions, without statistical differences between the male and female participants. These findings are consistent with those of previous studies that reveal that only a minority are aware of SCD and a majority have misconceptions about the potential benefit of family discussions and raising awareness of the disease.20,21
IVF is an example of a successful treatment for infertility. However, the addition of preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) is used to maximize success and is employed to aid in the selection of the embryo with the best chance of live birth.22,23 Though it is an expensive approach, it is worth consideration given the annual economic burden of SCD and other curative options.15,16 However, the literature lacks the benefit of this approach among SCD patients.24 This is reflected in the knowledge at the community level. In our study, we found that only around one-third of the participants were aware of IVF as an assistive reproductive approach to have a healthy baby. The decision to seek IVF treatment might be influenced by religious, cultural, and financial factors. However, the cost is commonly cited as the biggest obstacle, which in Saudi Arabia is on average SR 27,360 per IVF cycle.25 Interestingly, both the female gender and good knowledge about the disease influence the choice of IVF as a preventive method irrespective of the cost. A possible explanation is that men experience more social stigma, and loss of masculine identity when undergoing IVF treatment. Moreover, if couples are aware of the consequences of the disease they will try to minimize the chance of having a child with SCD.
This study shed light on the importance of education and counselling not only about the disease overall but also about its short- and long-term complications, impact on the healthcare system, family burden, academic performance, and reproductive options. The availability of IVF has a significant influence on marital decisions and the future of the disease, but the treatment cost and lack of evidence among SCD patients hamper such influence. On this basis, future studies should consider costs on the overall economic burden of SCD management and the factor influencing decisions to seek IVF treatment among Saudi SCD patients. Some limitations might affect the results of our study. The study was not performed at the time of premarital counselling, and it already included married participants, which may result in bias, and it does not reflect actual responses.
Conclusions
SCD is an inherited multisystemic disease with economic, physical, and psychological burdens. However, curative options are costly and limited, and hence, prevention is key. Therefore, healthcare decision-makers should consider implementing policies to minimize the financial burden that may still affect society despite the availability of free medical care. This study warrants extensive community-based education programs and should not be limited to the physical impact of the disease but rather cover its non-physical aspects as well that may contribute toward cost savings. It also highlights the importance of premarital counselling for disease and carrier people including alternative reproduction options for having healthy babies.
Data Sharing Statement
The data sets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
We would like to all participants for their collaboration.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not for fit sectors.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.
References
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2. Claussnitzer M, Cho JH, Collins R, et al. A brief history of human disease genetics. Nat Res. 2020;577:179–189. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1879-7
3. Alsaeed ES, Farhat GN, Assiri AM, et al. Distribution of hemoglobinopathy disorders in Saudi Arabia based on data from the premarital screening and genetic counseling program, 2011–2015. J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2018;7:S41–7. doi:10.1016/j.jegh.2017.12.001
4. Memish ZA, Owaidah TM, Saeedi MY. Marked regional variations in the prevalence of sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia in Saudi Arabia: findings from the premarital screening and genetic counseling program. J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2011;1(1):61–68. doi:10.1016/j.jegh.2011.06.002
5. Adam SS, Flahiff CM, Kamble S, Telen MJ, Reed SD, de Castro LM. Depression, quality of life, and medical resource utilization in sickle cell disease. Blood Adv. 2017;1(23):1983–1991. doi:10.1182/bloodadvances.2017006940
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7. Jastaniah W. Epidemiology of sickle cell disease in Saudi Arabia. Ann Saudi Med. 2011;31:289–293. doi:10.4103/0256-4947.81540
8. Piccin A, Fleming P, Eakins E, McGovern E, Smith OP, McMahon C. Sickle cell disease and dental treatment. J Ir Dent Assoc. 2008;54(2):75–79.
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12. Piccin A, Murphy C, Eakins E, et al. Insight into the complex pathophysiology of sickle cell anaemia and possible treatment. Eur J Haematol. 2019;102(4):319–330. doi:10.1111/ejh.13212
13. Yawn BP, Buchanan GR, Afenyi-A Nnan AN, et al. Management of sickle cell disease: summary of the 2014 evidence-based report by expert panel members. JAMA. 2014;312(10):1033–1048. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.10517
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16. Kauf TL, Coates TD, Huazhi L, Mody-Patel N, Hartzema AG. The cost of health care for children and adults with sickle cell disease. Am J Hematol. 2009;84(6):323–327. doi:10.1002/ajh.21408
17. Bin Zuair A, Aldossari S, Alhumaidi R, Alrabiah M, Alshabanat A. The burden of sickle cell disease in Saudi Arabia: a single-institution large retrospective study. Int J Gen Med. 2023;13(16):161–171. doi:10.2147/IJGM.S393233
18. Schultz CL, Tchume-Johnson T, Jackson T, Enninful-Eghan H, Schapira MM, Smith-Whitley K. Reproductive intentions in mothers of young children with sickle cell disease. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2020;67:5. doi:10.1002/pbc.28227
19. AlHamdan NAR, AlMazrou YY, AlSwaidi FM, Choudhry AJ. Premarital screening for thalassemia and sickle cell disease in Saudi Arabia. Genet Med. 2007;9(6):372–377. doi:10.1097/GIM.0b013e318065a9e8
20. Treadwell MJ, Mcclough L, Vichinsky E. Using qualitative and quantitative strategies to evaluate knowledge and perceptions about sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait. J Natl Med Assoc. 2006;98:704–710.
21. Long KA, Thomas SB, Grubs RE, Gettig EA, Krishnamurti L. Attitudes and beliefs of African-Americans toward genetics, genetic testing, and sickle cell disease education and awareness. J Genet Couns. 2011;20(6):572–592. doi:10.1007/s10897-011-9388-3
22. Sullivan-Pyke CS, Senapati S, Mainigi MA, Barnhart KT. In vitro fertilization and adverse obstetric and perinatal outcomes. Semin Perinatol. 2017;41(6):345–353.
23. Collins SC, Xu X, Mak W. Cost-effectiveness of preimplantation genetic screening for women older than 37 undergoing in vitro fertilization. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2017;34(11):1515–1522. doi:10.1007/s10815-017-1001-8
24. Oyewo A, Salubi-Udu J, Khalaf Y, et al. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis for the prevention of sickle cell disease: current trends and barriers to uptake in a London teaching hospital. Hum Fertil. 2009;12(3):153–159. doi:10.1080/14647270903037751
25. Almaslami F, Aljunid SM. Cost-effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies in Saudi Arabia: comparing in vitro fertilization with intrauterine insemination. SAGE Open Med. 2020;13(8):2050312120931988.
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Study examines link between discrimination and accelerated aging in African American cancer survivors
Cancer and its treatment can accelerate the rate of aging because they both destabilize and damage biological systems in the body. New research published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, found that African American cancer survivors who reported high levels of discrimination exhibited greater aging and frailty than those reporting lower levels of discrimination.
For the study, Jeanne Mandelblatt, MD, MPH, director of the Institute for Cancer and Aging Research at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C., and her colleagues examined survey responses from 2,232 adults participating in the Detroit Research on Cancer Survivors (ROCS) Study, a population-based cohort of African American adult cancer survivors who had been diagnosed with breast, colorectal, lung, or prostate cancer within five years. The investigators used what is called a deficit accumulation index to measure aging-related disease and function, and they examined survey responses to questions including ones related to perceived discrimination. Types of discrimination that were assessed included those related to employment, education, renting and buying property, and treatment by police or neighbors.
Discrimination can act as a chronic stressor, which can throw the body off balance, resulting in increases in blood pressure, heart rate, metabolism, inflammation, and numerous other factors. These stressors can also increase rates of aging, leading to greater risk of frailty. We hypothesize that discrimination can lead to an older biological age than a person’s actual chronological age. This is important to understand as there have been virtually no studies of the relationships between discrimination and aging in the setting of cancer survivorship.”
Jeanne Mandelblatt, MD, MPH, Director of the Institute for Cancer and Aging Research at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C.
The team found that only 24.4% of participants had deficit accumulation scores indicating no signs of aging-related frailty. Also, survey responses indicated that two-thirds of participants experienced major discrimination in their lives. Survivors with four to seven types of discrimination events had the largest increase in deficits, even after controlling for age; time from diagnosis; cancer type, stage, and therapy; and sociodemographic variables.
“Our results indicate that after considering the effects of traditional factors on poor health-;such as income, education, and types of cancer treatment-;discrimination was significantly linked to frailty independent of the other variables,” said Ann Schwartz, PhD, co-lead author on the paper and the leader of the Detroit ROCS Study. “Regardless of whether you were rich or poor, if you experienced more discrimination, then you reported greater levels of frailty.” Schwartz is also professor and associate chair of oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine and deputy center director at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.
Journal reference:
Mandelblatt, J. S., et al. (2023). Association between major discrimination and deficit accumulation in African American cancer survivors: The Detroit Research on Cancer Survivors Study. Cancer. doi.org/10.1002/cncr.34673.
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Middle Georgia Regional Library forms African American History Committee to help archive Macon’s Black History
The Middle Georgia Regional Library wants to help gather and document Macon’s African American history in light of the Macon-Bibb bicentennial.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Middle Georgia Regional Library wants to help gather and document Macon’s African American history in light of the Macon-Bibb bicentennial.
The library system is forming an African American History Committee to talk to residents and gather personal stories and information to help shine light on Macon’s African American history.
The information will then be achieved at the Washington Memorial Library.
It will be made available to residents wanting to learn more about Macon’s Black History.
“It’s kind of up to us,” Head of the Genealogical and Historical Room at the Washington Memorial Library, Muriel Jackson, said. “If we don’t gather it and place it here so that future generation can look at it and research it, you’re talking about a big lost of a portion of Macon’s history.”
The Middle Georgia Regional Library is holding an African American History Committee formation meeting on Wednesday at 4 p.m. It will take place at the Washington Memorial Library.