Social and psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in African-American communities: Lessons from Michigan.

Abstract

The mental health consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic are particularly relevant in African American communities, as African-Americans have been disproportionately impacted by the disease, yet they are traditionally less engaged in mental health treatment compared to other racial groups. Using the state of Michigan as an example, we describe the social and psychological consequences of the pandemic on African-American communities in the United States, highlighting community members' concerns about contracting the disease, fears of racial bias in testing and treatment, experiences of sustained grief and loss, and retraumatization of already traumatized communities. Further, we describe the multi-level community-wide approaches that have been used thus far to mitigate adverse mental health outcomes within our local African-American communities. Keywordscommunity mental health; trauma; racial disparities; coronavirus; population health African-American communities in the state of Michigan have been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite making up only 13% of Michigan's population, African-Americans account for 32% of confirmed cases and 41% of pandemic related-deaths (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 2020). In Michigan's primarily African-American communities, more than 10% of Covid-19 cases end in death (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 2020). A disease that was initially thought to mostly impact older adults and the chronically infirmed has now become a national scourge, devastating African-American communities across the U.S.From a mental health perspective, the pandemic has heightened fear in a segment of the population that already faces significant barriers to mental health treatment. Despite having rates of mental illness similar to Whites, African-Americans experience significant

Severe psychiatric disturbance and attempted suicide in a patient with COVID-19 and no psychiatric history

“… 22 Posited reasons for a racial disparity in mental ill-health include fear of contracting the virus, bereavement of social contacts and the disproportionate impact of social distancing measures on BAME communities. 23 Although the patient did not report any direct discrimination by healthcare workers during the admission, his ethnicity may have contributed to his presentation through the indirect risk factors previously described in the literature. 22 23 …”

Mental Distress and Human Rights Violations During COVID-19: A Rapid Review of the Evidence Informing Rights, Mental Health Needs, and Public Policy Around Vulnerable Populations

“…Task shifting to provide psychosocial and peer-based support will also be useful such as using lay volunteers trained to provide human connectedness to address physical distancing and resultant isolation-a strategy well-adopted in LMICs. These approaches will also be beneficial in HICs in that effective management of the mental health consequences of the pandemic in historically marginalized communities requires a multilevel, community-wide approach led by culturally sensitive mental health professionals (99).…”

Community-Clinical Partnership: Engaging health navigators to support refugees and non-refugee immigrants amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Widespread loss, grief, and loneliness, layered with challenges to the stability of livelihoods and social networks, are just a few of the insults to mental health and wellbeing that persist amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting social and economic upheaval [2,8,[36][37][38][39][40]. This study found that COVID-19 has impacted multiple psychosocial pathways, including household emotional health, nancial security, and children's education.…”

“…In the United States (U.S.), refugees and non-refugee immigrants face many barriers to optimal health and well-being [1][2][3][4][5]. All such barriers should be considered in the context of the turbulent healthcare and economic climate resulting from the COVID -19 pandemic, which has exacerbated health and socioeconomic inequities affecting minority populations [6][7][8][9][10]. As the U.S. continues experiencing a rising death toll and widened gaps in socioeconomic and health parameters due to COVID-19, the adverse impact on vulnerable refugee and non-refugee immigrant populations must be recognized and mitigated [6,7,[10][11][12].…”