Coming up this month on O.N.M.E. Sounds web radio: Around the Table Central Valley Black Health Community Forum Series will address holistic health directives candidly

From pregnancy to serious illness, data reveals preventable gaps—and community-led paths toward safer, more dignified care.

By ONME News

On web radio station, O.N.M.E. Sounds, join news show host, Julia Dudley Najieb for the Central Valley Black Health Community Forum Series starting on Monday, October 19, with two more episodes thereafter.

Listen to local health advocates, experts and community members having a candid, in-depth, holistic discussion with suggested solutions about Black health, palliative care, environmental health and end-of life necessities.

The forum includes community partner Covered California.

For Black Families in California’s Central Valley, Health Equity Must Span a Lifetime

FRESNO, Calif. — For Black residents across California’s Central Valley, the health-care challenges that begin before birth can persist through older age and the final months of life. New state and regional data point to a common thread: unequal access to timely, trusted and culturally responsive care. The consequences appear in maternal deaths, long waits for mental-health services, earlier chronic disease and limited access to palliative and hospice support.

Environmental health: the risks outside the clinic

Health inequities also begin in the air, water and neighborhoods where people live and work. The Central Valley faces overlapping exposure to fine-particle pollution from traffic, industry, agriculture and wildfire smoke; extreme heat; pesticides; and groundwater contamination. The California Air Resources Board links particulate and toxic air pollution with asthma, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, lung cancer and poorer neurodevelopmental outcomes in children, and says many disadvantaged communities experience higher exposures and health impacts than affluent neighborhoods. Race matters within that burden: a 2025 CARB review found that air-pollution exposure often affects racial and ethnic groups unequally. Heat adds another threat. The Public Policy Institute of California reported that Black Californians had the state’s highest heat-related mortality rate—0.28 deaths per 100,000, about 1.5 times the overall rate—and projected two additional weeks of health-impacting heat events each summer in the Central Valley by 2050. California’s CalEnviroScreen lets residents examine local burdens, including air quality, pesticide use and drinking-water threats. These hazards can worsen pregnancy complications, asthma, heart disease, diabetes and mental strain, making clean-air enforcement, safe drinking water, shade, cooling access and worker protections essential health interventions.

Maternal health: a persistent emergency

The disparity is stark. The California Maternal Health Blueprint says Black mothers are more than three times as likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth as the state average. Nationally, the CDC reported a 2024 maternal mortality rate of 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births for Black women, compared with 14.2 for White women. The report defines a maternal death as one occurring during pregnancy or within 42 days after pregnancy from a related or aggravated cause.

California’s blueprint names racism among the social determinants driving inequity and says plainly that “unacceptable disparities persist.” For Valley families, distance, maternity-service closures, transportation and a thin specialist workforce can compound the effects of bias. The practical response is equally concrete: early prenatal care, blood-pressure monitoring, postpartum follow-up, continuity with trusted clinicians, and access to doulas and midwives who understand Black patients’ experiences. Families should also know that urgent warning signs—including severe headache, chest pain, heavy bleeding, trouble breathing or thoughts of self-harm—require immediate medical attention.

Mental health: treatment gaps remain

Access to counseling and psychiatric care is another fault line. The federal Office of Minority Health reports that in 2024 Black adults were 36% less likely than U.S. adults overall to have received mental-health treatment in the previous year. Its guidance begins with a broad reminder: “Mental health is about how we think, feel, and connect with others.” In a region where provider shortages and long drives can delay care, trusted entry points such as primary-care clinics, schools, faith communities and telehealth can help people seek support earlier. Community leaders also stress that culturally responsive care is not an extra; it can determine whether a patient feels heard and returns.

Healthy aging means more than longevity

Healthy aging requires prevention, mobility, social connection and control of chronic disease. Black adults carry disproportionate burdens of hypertension and diabetes, conditions that can shorten healthy years when screening, medication or nutritious food is hard to obtain. The National Institute on Aging describes physical activity as “a cornerstone of healthy aging” and notes that regular movement is associated with living not only longer but better. In the Valley, that prescription must be matched by safe places to walk, reliable transportation, affordable food, accessible senior programs and clinicians who can coordinate care across distances.

Palliative care should arrive earlier

Palliative care is specialized support for people with serious illness at any age or stage; unlike hospice, it can be given alongside treatment intended to cure or control disease. Yet the Center to Advance Palliative Care says Black patients experience disproportionate suffering with illnesses such as cancer, heart failure and dementia. Its research identifies poorer pain and symptom management, weaker clinician communication and lower hospice use. Brittany Chambers, a public-health expert with CAPC, put the responsibility broadly: “Everyone has a stake in this, and everyone can do something.” Her 2025 remarks emphasize that even modest actions can move care toward equity.

End-of-life necessities begin with a conversation

Planning ahead is both a medical and family matter. A 2025 NIA research summary says only one in three people in the United States has a plan for future health care. Another NIA guide warns that relatives guessed nearly one in three end-of-life decisions incorrectly. The agency’s conclusion is direct: “Research shows that you are more likely to get the care you want if you have conversations about your future medical treatment and put a plan in place.” Its advance-directive guidance explains living wills and health-care proxies, documents that become especially important when a patient cannot speak.

For Central Valley families, the first step can be asking a clinic for a palliative-care referral, naming a trusted decision-maker, documenting treatment preferences and giving copies to family and clinicians. Faith leaders, barbershops, community organizations and Black-led health groups can also help make conversations about depression, caregiving, serious illness and death less isolating. The goal is not less care; it is care that reflects a person’s values and relieves avoidable suffering.

Across all six issues, the policy choices are connected. More maternity units and behavioral-health clinicians matter, but so do insurance continuity, paid leave, transportation, caregiver support and accountability for racial gaps. Health systems can publish outcomes by race and ZIP code, partner with residents before designing programs, and compensate community advisers for their expertise. As CAPC’s equity guide argues, changing serious-illness care requires moving beyond describing disparities and toward sustained action.

Sources: CDC maternal mortality report; HHS Office of Minority Health; National Institute on Aging healthy-aging guidance; Center to Advance Palliative Care equity guide; NIA advance-care-planning guidance.