AAACE 2021 Annual Conference

African Americans, Health Disparities, Health

This presentation examines chronic health conditions and overrepresentation in COVID-19 deaths of Black/African Americans who experience health disparities due to poverty, low literacy, and cultural practices that affect decisions about food, nutrition, and health care. Adult education approaches to provide community support and opportunities for adult health learning are discussed.

In 2011, Hill edited a New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education (NDACE) volume that was one of the first comprehensive sources linking adult education and health; she connects health with daily living practices, interactions with others, and their sociocultural context. A limitation of this volume was its lack of attention to racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, or identifying as LGBTQ. This was redressed by a 2014 volume of NDACE titled Health and Wellness Concerns for Racial, Ethnic, and Sexual Minorities (Collins, Rocco, and Bryant). Later, Hill (2016) proposed an interactive model of health connecting individual characteristics; lifestyle; and sociocultural, environmental, and international contexts and discussed the link between social determinants of health and critical adult health learning. The 2020 Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education makes little mention of adult health learning and the Handbook of Race in Adult Education neglects health. Clearly, much more needs to be done within the field of adult education and community education to link adult learning with health and wellness, especially in regard to African American people and other minority populations. This has become especially urgent as minorities continue to suffer disproportionately from COVID-19 and other health concerns.