The role of community-level policing on the health for Black older adults

Background According to the 2022 Alzheimer's Association Facts and Figures report, Black Americans are one and a half times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than White Americans. This higher prevalence may be due, in part, to structural racism experienced by Black individuals in the United States. Structural racism can be described as involving the health and societal disparities that are rooted in the history of discrimination against Black individuals and other people of color in the United States, not only during interpersonal interactions, but also as enshrined in the rules, practices, and policies of financial systems,, laws, medical systems and other institutions. Though scientists remain uncertain exactly how structural racism impacts Alzheimer's risk, exposure to adverse events involving the police may play a role.