Discussion of public health in recent years has had for the most part a laser-focus: COVID-19. But as paradigm-shifting as the pandemic was (and is), it is useful to take a broader view of the landscape. This regional snapshot profiles the social and spatial challenges that combine together to make health outcomes –from any condition-so unequal and inequitable. Detailed slides are found here and via the slideshare below. The highlights (or lowlights, for this matter) are:
- Overall, metro Atlanta is a relatively healthy place when compared to the rest of Georgia.
- But, so much of what makes us healthy has to do with community conditions and behaviors that are producing disparate outcomes based on race and place.
- Across a wide spectrum of health indicators, Black populations consistently have poorer health outcomes than do white populations.
- Many of these disparities exist spatially as well, which is a product of decades-long settlement and migration patterns which see concentrations of wealth mostly in the northern parts of the region and concentrations of poverty mostly in the southern parts of the region.
- Depending on race, residents in the Atlanta region are living very different lives and have very different needs from the healthcare system.
- Access, writ large, plays a pivotal role in how healthy we are, and we aren’t just talking about access to health insurance.
For much more on health issues in the Atlanta region, search “public health”. There are near-annual regional snapshots on the topic(s), back to 2015.