Dr. Jarvis T. Chen, Research Scientist in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, has been recently featured as a guest in WGBH’s radio show “In It Together 5/12/2020”.
In the interview, Dr. Chen speaks about the findings in a study that he has recently co-authored with fellow Pamela Waterman and Dr. Nancy Krieger. “While everyone experienced surges in deaths in the last week of March and the beginning of April in Massachusetts, these surges were particularly marked in the areas that are most disadvantaged by poverty or by racial/ethnic composition,” says Dr. Chen.
“For example, although the age-standardized mortality rate increased by about 50 percent in all areas during the first two weeks of April, it was 40 percent higher in areas with the largest concentration of people of color, it was 14 percent higher in areas with the most crowded housing, and it was 9 percent higher in areas with the greatest poverty.”
Quotation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Graphic Credit: The Boston Globe
