First Year Medical Program Students Demonstrate the Importance of Community Engaged Research( continued) Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lance A. Williams
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a significant public health concern disproportionately affecting Black and Latinx communities, particularly in South Los Angeles( Service Planning Area 6, or SPA 6). Black adults have a higher prevalence of hypertension, with approximately 56 % affected, due to factors such as genetic predisposition, obesity, diabetes, and socioeconomic stress( Thomas, 2018). Adults with hypertension are also more likely to experience severe complications like stroke, heart disease, and kidney failure due to the complications of associated microvascular and macrovascular disorders( Long & Dagogo-Jack, 2011).
Although less prevalent in Latinx adults, with about 25 % affected, hypertension remains a significant concern due to acculturation stress, dietary habits, and higher diabetes rates, leading to lower blood pressure control and increased end-organ damage( County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health, 2023). SPA 6, home to about 1.2 million residents, predominantly Black( 27 %) and Latinx( 68 %), faces higher hypertension rates than the national average due to socioeconomic disparities, limited healthcare access, and a higher rate of uninsured individuals( Harding, 2017). Cultural perceptions, mistrust of medical institutions, language barriers, and chronic stress from systemic racism and discrimination compound these challenges.
Authors: Abdelkader Awad, Amina Latif, Rania Berkane, Sigry Ortiz Flores, Josue Fraga, Harneel Gill, Daphne Okoro, Monika Watat, Kaylah Wade, Makeen Yasar
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lance A. Williams
This study seeks to better define the experiences of birthing people in Service Planning Area 6( SPA 6) of Los Angeles County who have experienced postpartum depression( PPD), the structural factors driving disparities in PPD, and to identify recommendations for more supportive and transformative systems of care rooted in a reproductive justice approach.
PPD is a major depressive disorder that occurs during or after pregnancy. PPD must have at least five or more of nine specific symptoms for at least two weeks, with at least one of the symptoms being depressed mood and anhedonia. The nine symptoms are depressed mood, sleep disturbance, anhedonia, feelings of worthlessness or disproportionate guilt, fatigue or loss of energy, diminished concentration, weight change due to appetite change, psychomotor changes, suicidal ideation. Commonly mistaken for,“ baby blues”, postpartum is more severe in its symptoms over a prolonged period of time.
Understanding the myriad potential factors that contribute to or exacerbate PPD, brings an importance in SPA 6 as a region of interest, considering PPD’ s intersections within individual, interpersonal, and systemic factors are largely unexamined within the local context.
CERP Group 6
Beyond Birth – Unpacking Postpartum Depression( PPD) in SPA 6 and the Factors Driving Disparity
• Dr. Omolola( Lola) Ogunyemi is the Interim Vice President at CDU. She is Director of CDU’ s Center for Biomedical Informatics and is a Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine.
• Dr. Homero del Pino is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Prize Winners
• First Prize($ 150 per student): Group 6
• Second Prize($ 100 per student): Group 5
• Third Prize($ 50 per student): Group 1
Sponsors
• The Stovall Foundation
• New Vision Church of Jesus Christ
Presentation of the Judges
• Dr. Lejeune Lockett is Director of CDU’ s Office of International Affairs and an Assistant Professor in the College of Science and Health. She is also member of the US President’ s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief( PEPFAR) Scientific Advisory Board.
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 39