New America Media / PhxSoul.com, News Report, DaVaun Sanders, Posted: Jul 18, 2010

Second of 3 Parts. Read Part 1 here.

For African Americans in metropolitan Phoenix, eliminating health disparities and improving health education among community elders and their caregivers is a primary concern.

Despite improvements in the past decade, African Americans rank worse in health status indicators than any other ethnic group in Arizona. According to a 2007 Arizona Department of Human Services (ADHS) report, African Americans repeatedly ranked fourth or fifth out of five ethnic groups in such mortality categories as cardiovascular disease, heart disease, cancer and HIV.

Many of the risk factors associated with the leading causes of mortality—such as obesity and high blood pressure—increase with age.

African Americans ages 65 and older comprise only 7.8 percent of Arizona’s black population—a troublingly small proportion because African Americans show the highest percentages of deaths in many mortality categories. (Older non-Hispanic whites and Latinos constitute 17.9 percent, one of the highest proportions of elders in the United States. Only 4.9 percent of Arizona’s Latinos are seniors.)

According to the ADHS Healthy Aging 2010 Project, “While the older adult population in Arizona is living longer, older adults are not necessarily living healthier lives.” Chronic diseases, often co-existing with depression and other mental health difficulties, “are the most prevalent yet preventable health problem in the state.”

A 2010 AARP report detailed how the recession is also affecting the health of African Americans. According to the report, 50 percent of African Americans aged 45 and over “got less sleep due to stress or worry,” compared with 41 percent of the general population. Also, nearly one in three African Americans cut back on medications—twice the proportion of other Americans.

In addition, almost one in four African Americans lost health care coverage due to the recession, almost double the percentage for Americans overall.

For Arizona elders, who require more intensive health services, cost of care may become an especially heavy burden in African American families already feeling financial strains. According to a Genworth survey, a semi-private nursing home room costs $64,515 a year in metro Phoenix. A private room costs $88,794.

African American leaders in the Phoenix area have responded to the challenges with programming and educational forums. In May, for instance, First Institutional Baptist Church partnered with the Phoenix chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority to sponsor the 2010 Community Health Forum, offering free community access to African American doctors and presenting expert panels on such topics as nutrition and health care reform.

Another community initiative is the Garden of Tomorrow, one of several community gardens in South Phoenix. The project provides elders at the adjacent Tanner Gardens retirement home with fresh food, recreation and important social interaction with volunteers, who help tend and harvest vegetables.

This article is second in a three-part series for PhxSoul.com created for New America Media’s Ethnic Elders News Fellowship with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies. Read the first part of the series here.