Dear Community:

Get ready for one of the most anticipated celebrations in the Cincinnati region – the 37th Annual Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion (BFR)! Throughout this entire weekend, the city will come alive with live music, delicious food, a vibrant retail market and one of the largest parades in all of Cincinnati. This year’s event promises an incredible lineup of speakers and performers, plus dozens of family-friendly activities.

Closing the Health Gap is proud to be part of this legacy. We’ll have interactive booths throughout the weekend focused on health education and resources. And we’re inviting YOU to join us as a supporter or volunteer in the iconic Black Family Reunion Parade on Saturday – a tradition that brings our community together in unity and pride.

Don’t miss out! View the full schedule at myblackfamilyreunion.org. Let’s celebrate family, culture and community together! Blessings to all of you for a safe and healthy week ahead!

Renee Mahaffey Harris

President & CEO

With Trump Upheaval, Experts See Concerning Trend at NIH Hospital

The number of people receiving treatment at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center — the renowned research hospital that cares for patients with rare or life-threatening diseases — has tumbled under President Donald Trump’s second administration, according to government documents and interviews with current and former NIH employees. NIH documents viewed by KFF Health News show a pronounced decline in patients at the 200-bed hospital from February through April, a time that coincides with the Department of Health and Human Services’ mass firings of government employees, the gutting of scientific research, and the administration’s broad crackdown on immigration. The average number of patients being treated daily during that time hovered between 60 and 80, with the April numbers falling to the lower end of that range. By contrast, in October, about 80 patients a day on average were at the hospital.

The number of cancer clinical trial participants at the hospital as of July was down about 20 percent from last year, one NIH cancer scientist said. KFF Health News agreed not to identify the scientist and others who participated in this article who were not authorized to speak to the press and feared retaliation.

Strong Men, Strong Futures: A Night of Film, Food and Fellowship

Join the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center for a film viewing followed by a dinner and panel discussion of the latest prostate cancer prevention and care. There will be two screenings of the event:

• Thursday, September 18, 2025 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Probasco Auditorium (2839 Clifton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45220)
• Saturday, September 20, 2025 from 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. at United Community Christian Church (1710 Maryland Ave., Covington, KY 41014)

The Black Walnut is an award-winning, compelling and innovative docudrama designed to increase awareness of the alarming prostate cancer disparity impacting Black men. Featuring nine actual prostate cancer survivors, a urologist and a medical oncologist in dramatic roles, the film explores the myriad of barriers Black men encounter in securing healthcare. Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer than white men and the film aims to encourage men to prioritize their health.

At this event, participants will have the opportunity to:

• View The Black Walnut film and meet the writer and producer Terrance Afer-Anderson.
• Connect and have a discussion with a panel of local prostate-focused physicians and survivors who will provide suggestions on how to address some of the significant barriers and disparities the Black community faces regarding prostate cancer.
• Receive and have access to educational resources and free PSA screenings via blood draw.

Please Register by clicking HERE.

NOW RECRUITING: Physical activity study for Black women

One of Closing the Health Gap's national partners is recruiting participants for a study designed to test an online intervention to increase physical activity among Black women. This program is completely free and open to women across the nation.

Dental care costs linked to major health disparities across age groups

A comprehensive study analyzing dental care affordability among US adults reveals significant disparities in oral health outcomes based on financial barriers, with implications for Americans across all age groups, and their families. The research, published in BMC Oral Health, examined data from 11,566 adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, from 2015 to 2018.

According to the study, 14.17% of US adults reported being unable to afford needed dental care. Those individuals had significantly worse oral health across several key measures. Researchers found that they were more than three times as likely to have untreated tooth decay and had a 4.46 times higher likelihood of root caries — decay at the root surface of teeth — compared with those who could afford care.

Affordability challenges were most common among younger adults. The study found that 16.82% of adults aged 19 to 45 were unable to afford care, compared with 14.57% of adults aged 46 to 64 and 7.55% of those 65 and older. The authors suggest that this finding may have broader effects on families, particularly when younger adults act as caregivers for older relatives.

UC Davis Health and WellSpace Health team up: Closing the gap in heart failure care

Almost 6.5 million Americans over age 20 are living with heart failure. Each year, about 960,000 more people are diagnosed. Heart failure happens when the heart can't pump enough blood and oxygen to the body. This doesn't mean your heart has stopped or is about to stop. But when blood flow is too low, the body’s organs may not work properly, which can lead to serious health problems.

Doctors recommend that people with heart failure see a health care provider within a week after being discharged from the hospital. These patients often need regular checkups to adjust medications, check their symptoms, do lab tests and get help with things like prescription refills or other treatments. But many people don’t have easy access to health care.

Reducing Racial Disparities in Caregiver Presence During Family-Centered Rounds

Families identifying as members of marginalized racial groups may be less likely to attend family-centered rounds (FCR) and receive associated benefits. At our institution, caregivers of Black patients admitted to Hospital Medicine (HM) were less likely to be physically present on FCR than their white counterparts (72.2% vs 81.8%). We sought to increase the percentage of caregivers present, physically or by telephone, on HM FCR for Black patients from 72.2% to 83% in 5 months.

Developing social justice competencies: preparing the next generation of health disparities researchers and practitioners

This paper describes the process used by the Social Justice Competencies Subcommittee to identify social justice competency domains and related constructs that inform social justice approaches to research, practice, policies, and government infrastructures. The Subcommittee held monthly virtual meetings from November 2023 to September 2024. A literature review was conducted to identify existing competency measures. Voting and consensus processes were used to determine the content validity of the domains and constructs. The Subcommittee identified 5 domains and 59 constructs that describe (1) internal awareness; (2) attitudes, values, and beliefs; (3) knowledge that influences a social justice orientation or action; (4) skills in practice that incite others into action; and (5) skills in practice that build strong research and practice teams to engage in social justice approaches. Endgame strategies to eliminate chronic disease and risk factor disparities require that the workforce has the competencies to execute impactful research, practice, and policies.

Prescribing power and equitable access to care: Evidence from pharmacists in Ontario, Canada

Allowing pharmacists to directly treat patients may increase equitable access to healthcare and improve patient outcomes, but raises concerns about supply-side moral hazard or patient substitution away from regular physician-based care. We study the effects of a 2023 policy allowing pharmacists to prescribe for minor ailments in Ontario, Canada. We use Advan foot traffic data to measure how this policy affected visits to pharmacies and generated spillover effects on visits to non-pharmacy medical facilities (Research, 2022). Allowing pharmacists to prescribe led to a 16% increase in total visits to pharmacies and a 3% increase in visits to other providers. These increases were concentrated in materially deprived neighborhoods and benefited non-minority, non-immigrant populations the most. We use the policy as exogenous variation to identify substitution elasticities between pharmacy visits and traffic to other medical facilities. Overall, 20% of the increase in traffic to pharmacies spills over into increased use of outpatient-based care. Pharmacy traffic is a substitute for visits to hospitals and emergency departments, potentially as patients rely on pharmacists for triaging rather than emergency care.