Sick And Tired Of Being Excluded: Structural Racism In Disenfranchisement As A Threat To Population Health Equity

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Equity
• Social Determinants of Health

Background:

• Racialized felony disenfranchisement is a form of structural racism with theoretical links to adverse health outcomes.
• Empirical evidence on the health impacts of racialized felony disenfranchisement, particularly for Black populations, is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically examine the association between racialized felony disenfranchisement and health outcomes among middle-aged and older adults.
• To investigate race-specific effects of felony disenfranchisement on health in the United States.

Main Methods:

• Utilized administrative data on state-level racialized felony disenfranchisement.
• Linked disenfranchisement data with individual-level health data from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study.
• Employed race-specific regression models, adjusting for individual and state-level factors.

Main Results:

• Higher levels of racialized felony disenfranchisement in a state were associated with increased depressive symptoms among Black adults.
• Living in states with greater racialized disenfranchisement correlated with more functional limitations in Black adults.
• No statistically significant associations were found between racialized felony disenfranchisement and health outcomes for White adults.

Conclusions:

• Racialized felony disenfranchisement negatively impacts the health of Black Americans, contributing to health disparities.
• Policies aimed at reducing disproportionate felony disenfranchisement for Black individuals are crucial for advancing health equity.
• Addressing structural racism through policy reform can serve as a tool for improving population health outcomes.