Health Studies

Health Studies

Find out what the infant mortality rate is in your county, or another county/region where you have lived. Answer the following questions and cite your sources:
Is it higher or lower than the national rate (6.7 per 1,000 births)?
What is the rate of infant death among African American mothers in this county/region?
Reflecting on prior class content on health disparities, culture, and social/behavioral aspects of health, discuss what social/environmental determinants may possibly be affecting these rates.
Your text refers to infant mortality “as a social problem”, explaining that “children are the most vulnerable segment of the population, like canaries in the coal mine, they are the first to suffer from any adverse conditions that affect human health in general”. Analyze why the infant mortality rate (IMR) is an indicator of the health system as a whole.
What could policy makers or public health professionals do to address this?

Possible sources could include:

CDC Mortality Rates
CDC NCHS Vital Statistics
CDC Oregon Rates
Oregon Vital Statistics