In the United States, there are big differences in health levels. These differences, called health inequities, can occur based on a person’s wealth, their race or ethnicity, and where they live. Some groups are more likely to get sick, struggle to access medical care, and even have lower life expectancies.

Because of these inequities, racial and ethnic minority groups and poorer populations often have worse health outcomes. Sepsis, a life-threatening emergency that happens when your body’s response to an infection damages vital organs, is no exception.

• Black individuals bear nearly twice the burden of sepsis deaths, relative to the size of the Black population, as compared to white individuals.
• Children with severe sepsis or septic shock who are Black or Hispanic are approximately 25% more likely to die than non-Hispanic white children.
• American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the Indian Health Service area are 1.6 times more likely to die from sepsis than the national average.
• Adults below the poverty line have over three to four times the risk of dying of sepsis as compared to adults whose family income is at least five times the poverty line.
• Adult patients without health insurance are more likely to die of sepsis than privately insured patients, and are less than half as likely to be discharged to a nonhospital healthcare facility or discharged with home healthcare.

To learn more about these and other sepsis inequities, download our Sepsis and Health Equity fact sheet.

It is our responsibility to tackle health inequities. As long as health inequities exist, many Americans are becoming sick unnecessarily and even dying preventable deaths. This includes sepsis deaths.

As part of the larger healthcare sector, Sepsis Alliance is committed to closing gaps in health outcomes. This aligns with our mission to save lives and reduce suffering by improving sepsis awareness and care.

Sepsis Alliance DEI Pledge: Sepsis Alliance has pledged to address disparities and health inequities. Learn more about our pledge by clicking here.

Sepsis Alliance Institute DEI Courses:

• Closing the Gap: Sepsis Care in Underserved Communities (06/10/2021, 1.6 RN CE Contact Hours)
• Racial Disparity: Incidence, Care, and Outcomes of Sepsis in Vulnerable Populations (09/17/2020, 1.3 RN CE Contact Hours).
• Health Equity and Antimicrobial Resistance: What You Need to Know (04/27/2023, 1.0 RN CE Contact Hours).
• Maternal Sepsis: Epidemiology, Early Detection, and Equity Considerations (05/18/2023, 1.8 RN CE Contact Hours).

Other DEI Resources and Non-English Language Resources:

Your healthcare organization can be part of the solution! By implementing DEI initiatives, you can help ensure that your resources are reaching diverse populations, that your staff is trained to deliver culturally competent care, and that your organization is working to close inequitable gaps in patient outcomes.

Not sure where to start? We’ve included some ideas below.

DEI initiatives can include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Organizational commitment to DEI: Establishing an organizational commitment to DEI (in a pledge, in your mission statement, or elsewhere) communicates to funders, partners, and the populations you serve that your organization is dedicated to DEI, and that DEI goals will shape your work going forward.
• DEI within programs and offerings: Incorporating DEI goals into your programs and offerings increases the cultural relevancy of those offerings and improves their equitable distribution, including to disproportionately affected groups.
• DEI trainings for staff and personnel: Implementing DEI trainings for staff, Board, and other personnel expands your organization’s knowledge of implicit bias, care disparities, and other DEI topics in healthcare. If you directly provide care for patients, DEI trainings enable the healthcare professionals within your organization to deliver culturally competent care to all populations.
• DEI within hiring and recruiting practices: Incorporating DEI goals into your hiring and recruiting practices ensures that your staff, Board, and other personnel bring a diverse range of perspectives to your work, and that their makeup accurately reflects the many communities your organization serves.
• Partnerships with diverse organizations and communities: Establishing strong partnerships with diverse groups enables your organization to better understand care needs in the communities you serve; to more effectively distribute resources to populations in need; to ensure Patient Advisory Councils demographically represent the patients your organization serves; and to collaborate with other organizations, leveraging your collective resources toward shared equity goals.

Below, find more examples of healthcare DEI projects from our partners.

• Tufts Levy CIMAR – AMR and Inequality Resources: On the Levy CIMAR website, Tufts provides infographics and other resources showing the far-reaching consequences of antimicrobial resistance that are often overlooked with respect some of the most vulnerable groups, including racial and ethnic minorities and the economically disadvantaged. Global changes in climate, urbanization, food production, and income inequality threaten to worsen disparities.
• Mednition – “Strategies to Mitigate Health Inequity & Bias in Emergency Department Care Delivery”: This report explores the healthcare inequity in the U.S. that members of marginalized and underserved groups may face, why they occur in emergency departments specifically, and what providers can do to mitigate them.
• Other resources:
  • Black Mammas Matter Alliance
  • National Collaborative for Health Equity
  • Partners for Advancing Health Equity (P4HE)

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