Keon Gilbert

Saint Louis University | SLU · Department of Behavioral Science & Health Education

Police violence is a pressing public health problem. To gauge the illness associations of police killings – the most severe form of police brutality, we compile a unique multilevel dataset that nests individual-level health data from the 2009–2013 New York City Community Health Survey (nij = 39,267) within neighbourhood-level data from 2003 to 2012...

Exploring residential segregation in the Gateway City with photographer Bryan Travis.

This article addresses the concern that death by legal intervention is a health outcome disproportionately experienced by boys and men of color, and predicated on the quality of the locations in which encounters with law enforcement occur. Using a more comprehensive cross-verified sample of police homicides from online databases and a nationally re...

Photovoice is a community-based participatory research method that engages individuals to use photographs to reflect on the strengths and issues affecting their community as well as advocate for positive change. This article presents using photovoice as a pedagogical tool to introduce qualitative research methods to community members enrolled in th...

Blacks and Latinos are less likely than whites to have health insurance access and utilize health care. One way to overcome some of these racial barriers to health equity may be through advances in technology that allow people to access and utilize health care in innovative ways. Yet, little research has focused on whether the racial gap that exist...

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the African American prostate cancer survivorship experience following radical prostatectomy and factors contributing to quality of life during survival. Design: African American men who were part of a larger prostate cancer cohort were invited to participate in a focus group. Eighteen open-ended que...

PurposePhysical activity is recognized as a complementary therapy to improve physical and physiological functions among prostate cancer survivors. Little is known about communication between health providers and African-American prostate cancer patients, a high risk population, regarding the health benefits of regular physical activity on their pro...

Civic education translates research evidence about topics of social importance for broad public audiences, with increased understanding and meaningful action of the desired outcomes. For the Sake of All is an example of civic education on the social determinants of health and health disparities situated in the local context of St. Louis, Missouri....

ImportanceThere are more than 500 articles in the 2014 race-based healthcare disparities literature across a broad array of diseases and outcomes. However, unlike many other forms of research (e.g., clinical trials and systematic reviews), there are no required reporting guidelines when submitting results of disparities studies to journals. Objecti...

There has been a growing interest in African American men’s health and health disparities over the past two decades, but African American men’s health consistently ranks lowest across all groups in the U.S. Existing evidence on health and social causes of morbidity and mortality of African American men has been narrowly concentrated on public healt...

Recent events in Ferguson underscore the need to better understand the unique challenges, stressors, and coping mechanisms of African American men. To this end, a focus group study was conducted in Saint Louis, a few miles from Ferguson. Although numerous stress-related themes were discussed, racial discrimination and structural racism emerged as p...

Background: Accountability for Cancer Care through Undoing Racism™ and Equity (ACCURE) is a systems-change intervention addressing disparities in treatment initiation and completion and outcomes for early stage Black and White breast and lung cancer patients. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, ACCURE is guided by a dive...

Over the past decade there has been an explosion of research focusing on men’s health globally. This is largely due to men experiencing premature mortality and engaging in high risk taking behaviors relative to women. This is paradoxical given that men compared to women have historically had social and economic advantages that are often associated...

Men seek and ask for help in many different ways compared to women when it comes to their health. It has been well documented that men are less likely to have a usual source of healthcare and are less likely to utilize healthcare services, even when they have access to these services. For minority men (African American, Hispanic, and Latino), these...

This chapter will review the literature that links notions of masculinity with men’s health and health behaviors. An important focus of this chapter is describing the role that notions of masculinity and manhood play in shaping how men define health and how men fit health into other life priorities. The chapter covers four broad areas: (1) concepts...

Widespread awareness of the recent deaths of several black males at the hands of police has revealed an unaddressed public health challenge-determining the root causes of excessive use of force by police applied to black males that may result in "justifiable homicides." The criminalization of black males has a long history in the USA, which has res...

Previous analyses of Stand Your Ground (SYG) cases have been primarily descriptive. We examine the relationship between race of the victim and conviction of the defendant in SYG cases in Florida from 2005 to 2013. Using a regression analytic approach, we allow for simultaneous examination of multiple factors to better understand existing interrelat...

Purpose: Studies have demonstrated the effects of segregated social and physical environments on the development of chronic diseases for African Americans. Studies have not delineated the effects of segregated environments specifically on the health of African American men over their lifetime. This study examines the relationship between life cour...

Background: Accountability for Cancer Care through Undoing Racism and Equity (ACCURE) is a systems change intervention addressing disparities in treatment initiation and completion that result in poorer health outcomes for African American breast and lung cancer patients compared to White. Using an Undoing Racism™ framework, which emphasizes instit...

Background: Community-Based Participatory Research partnerships are powerful mechanisms needed to address race-based health disparities while utilizing systems science methodologies. The Greensboro Health Disparities Collaborative (GHDC), an 11-year community-academic partnership, created the foundation for the interdisciplinary steering committee...

Background: African Americans bear disproportionate burdens of disease, disability, and death in St. Louis, Missouri. Health disparities are closely linked to social determinants of health (SDH) like education and income, but public understanding of these relationships remains limited. For the Sake of All is an ongoing community education project d...

Background Chronic diseases are highly prevalent among men in the United States and chronic disease management is problematic for men, particularly for racial and ethnic minority men. Objectives This study examined the association between health information seeking and confidence to manage chronic diseases among men. Methods Study data were drawn...

African American (AA) men remain one of the most disconnected groups from health care. This study examines the association between AA men's rating of health care and rating of their personal physician. The sample included 12,074 AA men aged 18 years or older from the 2003 to 2006 waves of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems...

Background: Chronic diseases are highly prevalent among men in the United States and chronic disease management is problematic for men, particularly for racial and ethnic minority men. Objectives: This study examined the association between health information seeking and confidence to manage chronic diseases among men. Methods: Study data were draw...

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Health information seeking is associated with positive health outcomes in men however minority men appear to benefit less from health information seeking compared to white men. An engaged patient is also associated with greater confidence to manage one's health. However, this area remains understudied in minority men. The aim of...

This chapter examines the ways in which social capital has been used for political advocacy and civic engagement in health, focusing on the African-American experience. Further, it will give context to how African-Americans have wielded collective efficacy to combat racism, discrimination and its harmful by-products on health and access to health s...

Social capital refers to various levels of social relationships formed through social networks. Measurement differences have lead to imprecise measurement. A meta-analysis of eligible studies assessing the bivariate association between social capital and self-reported health and all-cause mortality was performed. Thirty-nine studies met inclusion c...

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Health information seeking outside of the medical encounter has increased significantly. Patients seek health information to learn more about health conditions, assess symptoms, and to improve communication with health care providers. Men's health is a relatively new area of study. Consequently, the literature is sparse related...

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Health information seeking and use are associated with positive health outcomes. An empowered patient is associated with better health status and medical adherence. Men's health continues to lag behind women's health, however men's health remains understudied. The aim of this study is to assess the differences by race in confide...

Background: Health disparities research remains an important public health matter. Ten years after Healthy People 2010, which aimed to eliminate health disparities, research has yet to fully articulate an evidence-based approach to disparities reduction. It is important to have a systematic way to monitor and track progress in the reduction of disp...

We examined the relationship between trust in the medical system, medication adherence, and hypertension control in Southern African American men. The sample included 235 African American men aged 18 years and older with hypertension. African American men with higher general trust in the medical system were more likely to report better medication a...

This study seeks to examine the process of building the capacity to address health disparities in several urban African American neighborhoods. An inter-organizational network consisting of a research university, community members, community organizations, media partners, and foundations was formed to develop a community-based intervention designed...

BACKGROUND: African Americans nationally graduate at a 55% rate compared to Whites at 78%. In North Carolina, 58% of Black students graduate compared to 73% of White students. Less than 50% of African American and Latino males complete high school. Education is considered one of the most important social stimuli in any nation and the lack of an edu...

Issues Researchers have found that behaviors associated with managing and controlling CVD, such as seeking treatment, controlling diet, and exercising, may be significantly influenced not only by a man's awareness and knowledge, but also by his racial/ethnic identity, gender role socialization, and culture, among other influences. This study examin...

Issues African-American men have the highest mortality rate from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in this nation. Further, religious involvement and social support have been positively associated with a range of health outcomes, including cardiovascular functioning. This study examined African-American church contexts through participant observation....

Obesity is a biological risk factor or comorbidity that has not received much attention from scientists studying hypertension among African American men. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between weight status and high blood pressure among African American men with few economic resources. The authors used surveillance data c...

Racism-related stress exposure has been shown to adversely affect African American men's mental health. Stress-buffering hypotheses propose that coping confers protective mental health benefits in the face of negative life events. Previous studies demonstrate that African American men rely on religion-centered coping strategies (e.g., forgiveness)...

Social capital generally refers to social relationships formed through reciprocal exchanges among members of social networks such as religious, political, and other kinds of organizations. There are significant theoretical and measurement differences within the literature and little evidence about the relationship between social capital and health...

Racial discrimination has been conceptualized as a biopsychosocial stressor that significantly increases African American men's risk for depression. Few studies have examined socio-contextual modifiers of the racial discrimination-depression relationship among this group. Neighborhood social cohesion is a socio-contextual factor shown to modify the...

According to the CDC, rates of HIV transmission are highest among young African American adult males engaged in risky sexual practices. Researchers attribute these higher rates to a broad range of psychosocial factors. Traditional masculine role socialization, which emphasizes risk-taking and sexual prowess, is one such factor. Media is one context...