By Leisa Boykin Willson
COVID-19 Pandemic Changed our Lives?
How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives as Black people in Colorado?
I want to share my perspective with you. During the COVID 19 pandemic I was visiting Black barber and beauty shops in Metro Denver on behalf of the Colorado Black Health Collaborative (CBHC). The areas surrounding the shops were already identified as having many people living with disproportionate social and health inequities before the pandemic. But COVID-19 created a widening of the gap and intensified health disparities throughout the pandemic. In these areas, families struggled financially with meeting basic needs. Unemployment resulted in the loss of health insurance for families. This ultimately caused poor health outcomes and deaths related to COVID-19. Some families lost more than one family member due to COVID-19 or suffered long-term COVID-19 symptoms. Basic needs like food, housing, medications, education, and access to health were affected. This was a setup causing failure to thrive in an environment of physical and mental illness.
Isolation Worsened Mental Health
The isolation increased depression, anxiety, and preexisting uncontrolled mental health illness. “The age-adjusted rate of suicide for Black men in Colorado has nearly doubled since 2013, when the rate was 10.2 suicides per 100,000. By 2020, that rate grew to 20.2 suicides per 100,000.” Stress increased as the responsibility for the survival of the Black family became a challenge. Men are always more successful in suicidal completions in comparison to women.
Living with a lack of finances resulted in a massive increase in our homeless population. Encampments are the result of job loss and mental health instability.
Mistrust of the Government
The lack of job opportunities and the mandate of vaccination divided our people. Some of our people readily got the vaccine. while others stood up and voted with their arms, declining vaccination. Mistrust of the government was one of the reasons often cited, as well as it being developed too fast, not enough information on long term issues, and just not believing that it was useful/safe. Like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Black people’s perception was the feeling of deception. Black people did not want to be a part of another governmental experiment. At the same time, we were hearing on the news that the disease was specifically impacting Black families. There were multiple personal reasons as well, but trust was one of the biggest reasons mentioned. However, a lack of trust may have resulted in many people’s deaths. You can measure trust and death outcomes by looking at the increase in the number of deaths trending in an area lacking governmental trust.
The lack of clear and effective communication from the government also led to confusion. The scientist in the beginning mentioned that they were not certain the vaccine would prevent COVID infections, but would prevent severe disease and death. This was not presented clearly to the public. Some people heard getting the vaccine meant the prevention of contracting the disease. Those who got sick with COVID-19 after receiving the vaccine were even further disappointed in the system.
Glimmer of Hope
A UCHealth Today article mentioned, “there are glimmerings on the horizon that the COVID-19 epidemic might eventually lead to an improved medical and public health infrastructure.”
Wouldn’t that be nice? For now, we are happy that most of our shops survived the pandemic. We continue to collaborate with them to hear their insights and be a resource.
Recognition of the lack of black mental health provider options and access to programs awoke a new awareness of self-care for the first time in our history. The state learned through multiple community leaders what the people were asking for and offered solutions that are still being explored using COVID data received during the pandemic. This awareness created the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) for people nationwide. “The Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) received more than $94 million in additional federal block grant funding to increase substance use and mental health services over the next four years as the state responds to higher demand brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.”. Listening to our people and putting the money toward the community for its needs is commendable. However, we will have to see if BHA truly reaches our community and what measurable changes can be recorded.
Want to learn more about COVID-19? Visit: bchartcolorado.org
Sources:
http://denverpost.com/2021/12/02/black-men-suicide-colorado-mental-health/
COVID-19 and suicide in Colorado – UCHealth Today
cdhs.colorado.gov/press-release/colorado-receives-94-million-federal-funding-boost-for-behavioral-health-services#:~:text=DENVER%20%28June%2014%2C%202021%29%20—%20The%20Colorado%20Department,higher%20demand%20brought%20on%20by%20the%20COVID-19%20pandemic