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Addressing Racial Disparities Among Sleep-Related Deaths

Rachel Alexander

Safe Sleep Program Manager

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Where We Collect Data

  • Department Of Children & Families
  • BSO Child Protective Investigations Section (CPIS)
  • American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Fetal Infant Mortality Review Program
  • Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
  • National Institute of Health

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What We Know

  • Roughly 3,500 SRD/Year Nationwide
  • 100% Preventable
  • Rates:
    • Nationwide: Highest American Indian/Alaska Native
    • Broward County: Non-Hispanic Black infants are more than twice those of Non-Hispanic White infants
  • For the last 5 years, Broward County has ranked in the top 3 for Sleep-Related Deaths in Florida

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Revisiting Safe Sleep Recommendations for African-American Infants: Why Current Counseling is Insufficient

  • Focus Groups: 60 NHB Mothers of infants 0-1
  • Aware of Recommendations and chose prone, bedsharing or co-sleeping
  • “Key reasons for non-compliance included perceived safety, convenience, and conflicting information from family members.”
  • Prone positioning has been directly linked to multi-generational households (outdated medical advice previous to 1992’s BTS Campaign)

Gaydos LM;Blake SC;Gazmararian JA;Woodruff W;Thompson WW;Dalmida SG; (n.d.). Revisiting safe sleep recommendations for African-american infants: Why current counseling is insufficient. Maternal and child health journal. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24889117/.

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Racial Differences In Trust In Health Care Providers*��

  • Trust In Healthcare Providers vs. Matriarchal Societies
  • National Study: 954 Participants
  • Results: African Americans (44.7%) were more likely than whites (33.5%) to report low levels of trust in health care providers.
  • Non compliance: safety, convenience, quality of sleep and generational information.

L;, H. C. H. A. K. G. O. H. S. (n.d.). Racial differences in trust in health care providers. Archives of internal medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16636216/.

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Forward Movement

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BHSC: Safe Sleep Program Initiatives

  • Cribs Program: 450 Safe Sleep Spaces/Year
  • Community Training/Education: 853 Providers (October 2019-Present)
  • Model Behavior Program: Addressing the Medical Community
  • Media Marketing: Radio, TV, Podcast, Social Media, Internet Ads, Poster Campaign
  • Local Events: Baby Showers, Facebook Live Events, Community Partner Events
  • Marketing Items: Onesie, Flipbook, Tote Bag, NIH Materials
  • Community Partnerships: Healthy Families, Connect, Nurse Family Partnership, Teen Reach etc.
  • Document Translations: Spanish & Creole

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Neighbors 4 Neighbors Media Marketing Campaign

  • May 2021- October 2021
  • Website Page: https://neighbors4neighbors.org/safesleep
  • PSA: English Spanish Creole
    • CBS & MyTV33
  • Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Ads:
  • CBS Interview Special: September 11, 2021

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Platform

Followers

Page Views/Month

Post Engagements/Month

Facebook

4,747

420

5,400

Twitter

2,073

80

6,500

Instagram

1,391

1,380

1,490

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Thank you to our Funders…

Broward Healthy Start Coalition, Inc. appreciates our funders:

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Q & A