Inequity and COVID-19

In St. Louis, it is an unfortunate truism that a person’s zip code is an accurate predictor of their health outcomes. The effects of the novel corona virus have magnified this claim. Nationally, low-income and minority populations have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. 

These groups are more likely to be "essential" workers, thus less likely to be able to effectively self-isolate due to socioeconomic pressures. Many rely on public transit to get to work and cannot afford (or don’t have access to) grocery delivery. Some who are not essential workers and have jobs that cannot be moved online have been furloughed or laid off, turning to the social safety net for food, rent and utility assistance, and basic household supplies – often while losing access to health insurance. 

That loss can be deadly, since non-white populations have higher rates of asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity – all conditions that increase a person’s risk of severe illness with COVID-19 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, the elderly in minority and low-income populations face increased exposure to the effects of the virus. 

The Brown School community is dedicated to advancing equity in our community , nation and world, which has led our faculty, staff and students to investigate and publish research that highlights these inequities. Some have been called on by local officials to lead the St. Louis area's efforts to fight the effects of COVID-19. This page will pull together research and resources that we hope are useful and timely as we move forward together.

We also want to acknowledge that the death of George Floyd at the hands of police has created a whole new level of trauma for people of color. To that end, we have put together an additional page of resources focused on how to advocate for social justice and protest police brutality during these very uncertain and troubling times.

Articles and Research from the Brown School Community

• Don’t Overlook Health Equity During the Crisis, featuring Associate Professor Darrell Hudson
• Coronavirus Highlights the Need for Health Insurance in Missouri, featuring Professor Tim McBride. 
• Tracking Social Needs in the Wake of COVID-19, featuring Professor Matt Kreuter and the work of the Health Communications Research Lab
• COVID-19 Will Be a Catastrophe Blacks St. Louis if Leaders Don’t Act Now, op-ed by MPH student Brittany Ferrell and Kayla Reed in the St. Louis American.
• We Don’t Need a Map to Tell Us Who COVID-19 Hits the Hardest in St. Louis, op-ed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and also on brookings.edu, by Professor Michal Grinstein-Weiss and Program Manager Brinda Gupta.
• Older Americans are Not Expendable, featuring Professor Nancy Morrow-Howell.
• Purnell to Lead St. Louis Team Responding to COVID-19. Associate Professor Jason Purnell will lead local nonprofits that are focused on providing services to the most vulnerable populations. His expertise is also featured in several articles, including Why Coronavirus Is Killing Black Americans at Staggering Rates and COVID-19 and the Color Line.
• Urban League, Church, Munis Partner to Feed North County Residents in Response to COVID-19 – a profile of a local effort in the St. Louis American.
• COVID-19: A Political Tipping Point for Health Equity in St. Louis by Cora Faith Walker, Esq., MPH '10.
• Still Compromising: The Disparate Impact of COVID-19 in St. Louis by Brown School PhD students Karishma Furtado, Research and Data Catalyst with Forward Through Ferguson and Alexandra Morshed, Prevention Research Center Postdoctoral Researcher.
• Confronting Racial Disparities Among Coronavirus Victims by Roy M. Wilson, president of Wayne State University and former deputy director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
• Black People are Dying of COVID-19 At Alarming Rates. Here's Why, featuring Professor Hedwig Lee.
• We Know How to Prevent Homelessness Due to COVID-19, by Associate Professors Patrick Fowler and Jason Purnell.
• WashU Expert piece: Navajo Nation Needs Support, perspective from Buder Center’s Wynette Whitegoat
• Perspective: Being a Student from China in the Time of COVID-19,  by Zizi Xu, MSW and Grace Ruqing Cao, MSW/MPH
• Who's an 'Essential Worker'? #Still Compromising Ep. 3 by Brown School PhD alumni Karishma Furtado, Research and Data Catalyst with Forward Through Ferguson and Alexandra Morshed, Prevention Research Center Postdoctoral Researcher. 
• Brown School Statement in Response to the Death of George Floyd - Dean Mary McKay and Vetta Sanders Thompson, Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
• New Study Examines Black Male Youth Reactions to Social Media Videos of Community Violence, featuring research by PhD student and lead author Robert Motley, manager of the Race and Opportunity Lab in the Center for Social Development
• Brown School Statement in Response to the Death of George Floyd - Dean Mary McKay and Vetta Sanders Thompson, Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
  
• Suppression of COVID-19 Spread is Possible, Suggests New Model - Ross Hammond, Betty Bofinger Brown Associate Professor at the Brown School and collaborator on the TRACE (Testing Responses through Agent-based Computational Epidemiology) model.
• New Resource Helps Communities Respond Effectively to COVID-19 - Research Assistant Professor Abigail Barker, faculty lead for data and methods at the Center for Health Economics and Policy at the Institute for Public Health.
• Resilience in the Face of the Pandemic: COVID Weighs Unevenly Across Racial Lines - Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor; Carol Graham, Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow and Research Director, Brookings Institution; Stephen Roll, research assistant professor; Yung Chun, data analyst; and Kwadwo Frimpong, senior research analyst.
• Religion May Offer Protective Role For Black Adolescent Boys Who Experience Police Abuse examines a recent study co-authored by PhD students Ashley Jackson, Helen Robinson and Phylicia Allen; Jewel Stafford, Field Education Manager and Project Director; and Associate Professor Sheretta Butler-Barnes.
• Brown School's Race and Opportunity Lab Recommends Specific Policing Reforms - release of a report co-authored by Robert O. Motley Jr., the Race and Opportunity Lab manager and a doctoral student at the Brown School; Alyssa Finner, ROL community engagement manager; Marah Walker, ROL graduate research assistant; and Sean Joe,  Benjamin Youngdahl Professor of Social Development.
• Butler-Barnes Awarded Seed Grant to Study Parental Messaging About Race, focused on rare research by Associate Professor Sheretta Butler-Barnes.
• COVID-19 Demonstrates Why Wealth Matters by Professor Michal Grinstein-Weiss, director of the Social Policy Institute at Washington University.
  
• Gunn McClendon Fights Voter Suppression explores the work of McClendon and her team at the Center for Social Development to ensure equal voting access in the St. Louis region.
  
• Reimaging Public Health in the Aftermath of COVID-19, featuring Professor Ross Brownson.
  

Resources

State and Municipal Resources

• Missouri COVID-19 24-hour hotline: 877-435-8411 
• St. Louis City COVID-19 Information and Resources: includes economic and small business assistance
• St. Louis City Emergency Resources
• St. Louis County Services and Resources during the crises: includes food, utility and mental health

Open Classroom Webinars

The Brown School is offering a series of free webinars, many of which are focused on the disparate effects of COVID-19 on minority populations or other equity-focused issues. We've assembled a list of on-demand, free learning opportunities that are broadly applicable to the fields of social work, public health, and social policy. Access all of this free content. 

Social Justice Resources

Following the death of George Floyd, we have put together an additional page of resources focused on how to advocate for social justice and protest police brutality during these very uncertain and troubling times. Access resources here.