Although data serve as an important tool for monitoring health and health inequities, Kansas’s data landscape for Black health is fragmented across several different sources, which prevents compiling a complete and accurate picture of people’s health. Our review identified health inequities for Black Kansans compared with (1) Kansans of all races and (2) US residents of all races. Our findings indicate an urgency for public health efforts in Kansas to review the data to address current wide health disparities and improve outcomes for all Kansans.
Why This Matters
Data can provide critical benchmarks for understanding the health status of populations and guiding interventions. Unfortunately, Kansas’s data landscape for Black health is fragmented, with relevant data spread across various sources. REACH Healthcare Foundation and its partners have identified the need for a centralized, accessible synthesis of health data for Black Kansans to inform public health efforts and prioritize interventions.
Documenting and analyzing health metrics for Black Kansans is essential for key reasons:
- Promoting Health Equity: Data can reveal significant sociodemographic variations and offer a basis for strategies to improve health outcomes for all Kansans.
- Shaping Policy: Findings have important policy implications, as they can provide an evidence base for policies addressing health care and broader social factors affecting health.
- Empowering Communities: Comprehensive data can equip community-based organizations to be data-informed advocates for meaningful changes tailored to the specific needs of Black Kansans.
What We Found
We reviewed the data of the 10 leading causes of death in Kansas: heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, COVID-19, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, suicide, and kidney disease. At the state level, for seven of the nine leading causes of death, Black Kansans have higher rates than for Kansans of all races.
How We Did It
We used primary and secondary health data sources that include county-level information for Black Kansans, focused on sources with data on disease metrics, social determinants of health (e.g., health insurance coverage), and/or demographic characteristics. We used a combination of data sources (Kansas Health Matters, American Community Survey, Kansas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and HDPulse) to display racial inequities in cause-specific mortality and social determinants of health.