Preventing Chronic Disease Progression in African American Communities

Timeline

Summer 2026

Description

Despite the availability of effective treatments and disease management strategies, complications related to diabetes and other chronic conditions remain pervasive. Among Black individuals, chronic disease progression is associated with more than twice the risk of mortality following an initial myocardial infarction, as well as higher rates of chronic kidney disease and lower-extremity amputations. Black women, in particular, experience disproportionately high rates of obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors, which contribute to accelerated disease progression and worse health outcomes compared with women of other racial and ethnic groups.

These inequities are largely driven by non-biological factors—often referred to as social determinants of health — including barriers to healthcare access, inadequate community resources, exposure to interpersonal and structural trauma, and persistent systemic inequities.

This project addresses these disparities through two interrelated but distinct aims

• To conduct a scoping review of culturally tailored interventions for Black patients aimed at preventing chronic disease progression, with a focus on diabetes-related complications and lower-extremity amputations.
• To examine the relationship between Black women’s experiences of interpersonal and systemic trauma and the development and progression of chronic health conditions, particularly cardiometabolic diseases. To learn more, visit What's the T.E.A.?

Team

Members

• Latesha Harris, postdoctoral fellow
• Ivy Boyd, undergraduate fellow

Leaders

• Team Advisor: Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Ph.D. (School of Medicine)