Racial Disparities among the Physical and Mental Health of Head Start Staff

Racial disparities are known to exist in terms of health care; this paper investigated if such differences existed among Head Start staff in terms of health and wellness. The purpose of the study was to compare physical health indicators from a Louisiana HS sample to a previously published data set of Pennsylvania HS staff [4]. We surveyed a predominately black (85.6%) group of HS teachers (n = 195) using a modified questionnaire developed by a Pennsylvania research team. The responses were compared to a national reference and Pennsylvania group of HS teachers [4]. Results indicated that HS teachers have higher prevalence of health-related problems than the national sample. However, our sample of black teachers in HS start classrooms experienced worse physical health than white women with similar characteristics (age, marital status, etc.). These results have profound implications regarding health disparities as well as the physical well-being of HS teachers.