Professor Studies Hopelessness and Resilience in Experiences of Discrimination
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Race and racial discrimination are frequent headline news items these days, but the health effects of experiencing discrimination are rarely discussed publicly.
SPH’s Uchechi Mitchell, PhD, assistant professor of community health sciences, has been studying hopelessness among older adults and the role that experiences of discrimination play in the loss of hope. Through a pilot grant from the Center for Health Equity Research Chicago, based at the School of Public Health and the UI Cancer Center, Mitchell has documented both the effects of hopelessness but also the assets and resilience that define communities that have experienced rejection and marginalization.
“Racial and ethnic minorities experience constant stress [and discrimination] that eats away at their bodies, at their mental health,” Mitchell said. “Identifying ways for people to overcome that adversity is necessary at the public health level to achieve health equity.”
Working with community partner the Endeleo Institute, a non-profit of Trinity United Church of Christ, Mitchell met with residents in Chicago’s Washington Heights neighborhood to hear their life stories and learn what helps them be resilient in the face of adversity. She also examined national data highlighting the role discrimination plays in furthering feelings of hopelessness among older African Americans and the social and neighborhood factors that protect against it.
At a community event in July, Washington Heights residents shared stories of adversity and resilience. Older African American men and women who faced racism and discrimination described the lasting stain these experiences left. One man, in particular, recalled serving in the Vietnam war and how painful it was to be treated so poorly after returning from service. At the same time, the residents noted how their communities fostered resilience through social support of families and friends and through neighborhood events like block clubs and frequent get-togethers. They also cited their religion and faith as forces of hope for positive change in the future.
“One of the things I learned from this project is that storytelling can be a process of healing through which community is created or fostered more strongly,” Mitchell said. “These stories provide information on how family members get through tough times, how neighborhoods get through tough times. Being acknowledged by others can do wonders for one’s mental and physical health.”
Mitchell says building resources to support resilience needs to occur at the individual, family, community levels as well as in political arenas. She cautions that focusing on negative statistics paints a dark picture of the health and wellbeing of Black and Latino people while ignoring the assets built up in communities.
“Data are often just numbers, but these numbers are trying to tell a story,” Mitchell said. “It’s important to think about the story that is being told, that you have to go back to the source, the people.”
Mitchell also notes that having older adults share stories of resilience is useful for younger generations because they serve as examples of how to thrive and hold on to hope when they face similar experiences of discrimination.