Faustin, assistant professor in the Public Health Studies Department, shares research that examines the principal causes of racialized disparities in population health.
Yanica Faustin, assistant professor of public health studies, co-authored an article titled, “Black Nativity and Health Disparities: A Research Paradigm for Understanding the Social Determinants of Health” alongside Mosi Ifatunji of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Deshira Wallace of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wendy Lee, also of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
The article, published in a special issue on “The Health of African Migrants: The Burden, Determinants, and Solutions” in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, compares the mental and physical health of U.S.-born and foreign-born Black populations. The manuscript reviews 208 studies and provides a comparative study of the populations, analyzing the pattern of health outcomes between foreign-born and U.S.-born Black people.
“The foreign-born Black population in the United States has risen exponentially over the past few decades. and yet the research on this population has not matched the pace of growth,” Faustin said. “In part, what contributes to this disconnect is the lack of relevant data sources.”
Although there is some complexity, especially with respect to mental health, the overall pattern found across the literature is that foreign-born Black people have lower rates of adverse health outcomes than U.S.-born Black people. Many studies were unable to explain these differences, illustrating the need for more research on the contributing structural mechanisms. This publication also highlighted health outcomes where there is less research that focuses on this within Black comparison, such as cancer research.
Additionally, the study discussed the need for increased data collection and data availability on a nationally representative level for the diverse Black population living in the United States.
The publication may be accessed online here.