COVID-19 and Cardiomyopathy in African Americans: An Early Single-Center Experience.

Introduction The 2019 coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on our society. Although most patients report minimal symptoms, a small proportion of patients have reported significant respiratory symptoms that led to admission to the inpatient medical ward or even the intensive care unit. Complications and long-term sequela of COVID-19 are still being reported and studied. The presence of cardiomyopathy, whether established or new-onset and its effect on inpatient mortality, admission to the intensive care unit or length of stay hasn't been studied.  Methods All inpatient hospitalizations in our database between March 1, 2020, and April 30, 2020, due to COVID-19 were reviewed. Patients who had at least a limited echocardiogram during this time were included in the study if they were above the age of 18. Patients were then assigned to three groups. The first group had patients with normal left ventricular systolic function. The second group had established cardiomyopathy that persisted throughout admission. The third group had patients who were found to have new-onset cardiomyopathy during admission.  Results The inpatient mortality, although high and variable, wasn't significantly different between the three groups. Also, there was no significant difference between admission to the intensive care unit, disposition at discharge, or oxygenation status at 24 hours between the three groups. The length of stay in the established cardiomyopathy group was markedly lower, and we suspect that could be due to more aggressive discussions about end-of-life care.  Conclusion Early COVID-19 experience at our center revealed a relatively high mortality rate that was primarily due to respiratory failure. The presence of established or new cardiomyopathy didn't appear to alter the outcomes significantly early in the pandemic.

Narratives from African American/Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic/Latinx community members in Arizona to enhance COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination uptake.

The state of Arizona has experienced one of the highest novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positivity test rates in the United States with disproportionally higher case rates and deaths among African-American/Black (AA/B), American Indian/Alaska Native (Native), and Hispanic/Latinx (HLX) individuals. To reduce disparities and promote health equity, researchers from Arizona State University, Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona formed a partnership with community organizations to conduct state-wide community-engaged research and outreach. This report describes results from 34 virtually-held focus groups and supplemental survey responses conducted with 153 AA/B, HLX, and Native community members across Arizona to understand factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and confidence. Focus groups revealed common themes of vaccine hesitancy stemming from past experiences of research abuses (e.g., Tuskegee syphilis experiment) as well as group-specific factors. Across all focus groups, participants strongly recommended the use of brief, narrative vaccination testimonials from local officials, community members, and faith leaders to increase trust in science, vaccine confidence and to promote uptake.

Black experiences of mindfulness and chronic stressors

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and better understand how Black/African American adults view mindfulness, with the goal being to work toward determining how mindfulness may be adapted to be more accessible to Black/African American communities that experience high levels of chronic stress. Participants completed an online survey asking about their experiences of mindfulness. A number of themes were identified and discussed, including initially believing mindfulness was not for them to utilize, finding the practice helpful, and the practice helping to increase awareness of emotions and physical health. Results of this research provide a better understanding of how Black/African American adults experience mindfulness and possible ways in which to introduce and adapt mindfulness to be better implemented into their communities, such as by offering further education on the benefits of mindfulness and introducing mindfulness exercises. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated changes in this study. As such, there are two aspects to this study. This first is the experiences of at-risk youth and mindfulness-based interventions was studied in the literature. The study itself reflects the experiences of Black/African American adults practicing mindfulness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Reaching high-risk Black adults for diabetes prevention programming during a pandemic: The design of Fit & Faithful a randomized controlled community trial.

Obesity is a key risk factor for Type 2 diabetes (T2D). Alarmingly, 87% of US adults have overweight or obesity, with non-Hispanic black adults having higher obesity and T2D prevalence than non-Hispanic white. The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) demonstrated the clinical benefits of lifestyle intervention (LI). While the DPP LI is effective, some participants don't achieve clinically significant weight loss in the current group-based translation paradigm. Black adults have the lowest adjusted weight loss (3.2%) among all racial/ethnic groups. Early intervention nonresponse defined as ≤1% weight loss at intervention week 4 is linked to lower probability of achieving weight loss goals. This paper describes the design and methods of a cluster randomized controlled trial among black weight loss nonresponders nested in 20 community sites (primarily churches). Descriptions of the adaptations made to transition the program to virtual format during the COVID-19 pandemic are also included. Trained community health workers deliver a group-based, 6-month long DPP over 18 sessions via Zoom. Additionally, nonresponders in the enhanced group receive weekly telephone support to provide individual-level intervention to help overcome weight loss barriers. Outcomes include weight, physical activity level, blood pressure, and dietary behaviors; these are compared between nonresponders in the enhanced intervention group and nonresponders in the active control group. Cost, mediators, and moderators are explored. If found to efficacious, these enhanced strategies could be standardized as a supplement for use with DPP nonresponders.

Brilliant, better, best: Teaching to affirm a positive racial mathematics identity

This action research offers one African American middle school mathematics teacher's experience teaching to the content standards and supplementing the curriculum to unify and affirm her Black students' racial and mathematics confidence in a predominately White, Midwestern urban school. The "gaps" between the educational results of White and Black student populations in the U.S. are well documented and so are many strategies to close them, such as culturally responsive teaching, teaching for social justice, and implementing rigorous standards, but these leave intact the main goal of having Black students on par with White students. Here, asserting that Black students are brilliant in their own right, this study does not attempt to equalize White and Black student performance. With her classroom motto, "Know that you are Brilliant, so give your Best daily and watch your best get Better", the author encouraged critical thinking and a growth mindset with her students while presenting multiple examples of Black excellence in both STEM and youth entrepreneurship.Though the COVID19 pandemic brought an early end to in-person school and this research project, she observed that many of her Black students had previous negative mathematics experiences, racialized tensions with some teachers, and distrust in school. However, she also found that students who would have 'failed' from 'traditional' instructional practices could be reached when given 'extra' time and effort outside of class to have opportunities of success with the mathematics content and positive teacher-student interactions. If 'extra' works, as found here, but also taxes teachers, how can 'extra' become the normal practice and policy so that it is not dependent on teachers' above-and-beyond effort, but is instead a normal feature that all students can expect? This locates the problem with the system not the student.As an important additional theme, the study reveals tensions the teacher experienced being one of few Black faculty. This study leaves open the door for more research into supporting teachers of color in institutions where they are the minority. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)