Recently, the Blue Cross-Blue Shield Foundation released a report, “Racism and Racial Inequities in Health: A Data-Informed Primer on Health Disparities in Massachusetts.”

While disparities in health outcomes across racial and ethnic groups are often narrower in the Commonwealth than they are in the nation as a whole, clear disparities persist across many key outcome measures in Massachusetts, including:

• White people are more likely to report having “excellent or very good” health than are Black and Hispanic people.
• Black and Hispanic people are more likely report having “fair or poor” mental health than are White people.
• Black and Hispanic people report higher rates of diabetes and asthma than do White people.
• The majority of Asian, Black, and Hispanic people (60%, 59%, and 69%, respectively) in Massachusetts are under the age of 40, compared with less than half the White population (45%).

While references to older adults in the data and findings are sparse, the report reiterates the importance of social determinants of health, which age- and dementia friendly communities often seek to address.

The full report is available here.