Created by leaders from the ARIAH Foundation and Just Equity for Health, the Green Book for Health is a promise- to invest in the health and well-being of Black Americans who, for too long, have been left on the margins. This is our guide towards wellness, created for and by us.
Why Do We Need a Green Book for Health?
The Green Book for Health was co-created by community members invested in improving Black health outcomes.
- While Black Americans comprise approximately 14% of the population i, they account for higher rates of new infectious diseases such as HIV ii, higher mortality from various cancers iii, and higher maternal mortality than their white counterparts iv.These are just a few of the harsh statistics that reflect the structural inequities underpinning Black health in America.
- Despite knowledge that health inequities can be addressed by racial and gender concordance between patients and physicians, the percentage of Black individuals in the physician workforce has not changed since the 1950s, standing at only 5% v.
What is the Green Book for Health?
The Green Book for Health will involve two key components meant to offer healthcare guidance and community-sourced insights on safe healthcare resources:
Resource Guide
A Resource Guide with insights on healthcare navigation, written by a team of seasoned healthcare workers and those with lived experience.
Community Guide
A Community Guide with information on healthcare providers and health centers to use or not use, sourced through surveys and testimonials from community members.
While efforts are underway to address these realities, Black Americans continue to experience high morbidity, mortality and discrimination as they navigate the healthcare system, leading to generational trauma, distrust and underutilization. In this setting, individuals are becoming more and more invested in helping themselves safely navigate their healthcare journeys. The Green Book for Health arose from the desire to ensure Black people utilize the local health services that are most attuned and responsive to their needs.
Wanna help?
How Can You Get involved?
Share
Share the below info to invite your network of Black healthcare users to fill the Green Book for Health survey- this allows us to share information on which healthcare providers and facilitates we should (or shouldn’t!) use.
Host
Host a Green Book for Health workshop, where our team will share information on how to have an empowered health journey and how to contribute to the Green Book for Health.
Join
Join us a focus group member to share your insights. Reach out to stella@justequityforhealth.com for more information.
1 Mora MM Christine Tamir, Abby Budiman, Luis Noe Bustamante and Lauren. Facts About the U.S. Black Population. Pew Research Center. Published January 18, 2024. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/fact-sheet/facts-about-the-us-black-population/
2 HIV & AIDS Trends and U.S. Statistics Overview. HIV.gov. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/data-and-trends/statistics
3 Cancer and African American People | Cancer | CDC. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/health-equity/african-american.html
4 Njoku A, Evans M, Nimo-Sefah L, Bailey J. Listen to the Whispers before They Become Screams: Addressing Black Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States. Healthcare (Basel). 2023;11(3):438. doi:10.3390/healthcare11030438
5 Percentage of all active physicians by race/ethnicity, 2018 | AAMC. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/workforce/data/figure-18-percentage-all-active-physicians-race/ethnicity-2018
6 The Negro motorist Green-book. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Accessed June 8, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016298176/
Copyright © 2024 Greenbookforhealth – Developed by SoftExpert