Population Health News, December 2025

Health Equity and Disparities

Too many Americans die violently: Violent deaths — homicides and suicides — are not uncommon in the US, especially among young people and people of color. Why? And how can we prevent these tragedies? (Nation’s Health Podcast, November 20, 2025)

Black women are killed at disparately high rates: Black women are at increased risk of murder, including being killed by police and intimate partners. The authors “place an urgent call to action to save the lives of Black women in the U.S.” (Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, October 13, 2025)

Environmental & Climate Health and Justice

Tehran is rapidly running out of water: Water is being rationed in Tehran as Iran is in a severe drought. If nothing changes, the taps may run dry. Climate change and mismanagement are to blame. Other cities are facing the same fate. (Grist, November 22, 2025)

Twenty-five organizations collaborate to boost environmental health in Philadelphia: A collaborative called Deeply Rooted is planting trees, funding neighborhood cleanups and programming in community gardens, and more. The goals are to reverse disinvestment and improve health in Black communities. (Penn Medicine, May 25, 2025)

Built Environments, Spaces, and Places

A better way for people with disabilities to navigate a city: In Washington State, AccessMap helps pedestrians find routes that are accessible to them. The OS-CONNECT dataset, developed at the University of Washington, powers the map. (UW News, March 25, 2025)

Boston’s trees are suffering, which affects people, too: “heat and pollution are disrupting the microbiomes of Boston’s oak trees.” Trees are less likely to be protected in low-income and communities of color. Mulch and leaving leaves behind could help protect the trees’ health. (The Daily Free Press, Boston University, November 5, 2025)

Making abandoned spaces useful can lower crime: When vacant land in Philadelphia was turned into housing or a business, some types of crime decreased–but the decrease did not occur if the vacant lots were simply fenced off or parking lots. (AJPH, October 14, 2025)

Policy and Programs

Where ACA premium increases will hurt the most: People aged 50-64 who are over 400% of the poverty level will experience the highest increase in health insurance premiums as subsidies are lost. This map and policy brief show where the premium increases will be the highest. For example, in Wyoming, the benchmark plan premium will increase 421%. (Kaiser Family Foundation, November 24, 2025)

New public charge rule could harm immigrants in California: A proposed rule in California would “make public charge determinations based on the applicant’s use of any health or social services program.” The current policy looks only at cash assistance or Medicaid-covered nursing home care. Medicaid and CHIP could see disenrollment, delays in care-seeking, and increased ER use. (California Health Care Foundation, December 5, 2025)

A big visa fee is a no-go for many rural health providers: Many rural hospitals rely on foreign-born providers and technical staff, but a $100,000 visa fee is cost-prohibitive for many hospitals that say they can’t find Americans to fill the positions. (KFF Health News, December 9, 2025)

Book Spotlights

Information Sick: How Journalism’s Decline and Misinformation’s Rise Are Harming Our Health—and What We Can Do About It, by Joanne Kenen, Lymari Morales, and Joshua M. Sharfstein.

Misinformation is harming public health. Why, and what can we do about it? The authors suggest the loss of local news, the rise of social media, and the polarization of national media as contributing causes to the loss of trust in public health. Nonprofit newsrooms and sustainable business models can help rebuild a better health information ecosystem. (Johns Hopkins Press, October 7, 2025)

Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adult Food Insecurity, by Colleen Heflin and Madonna Harrington Meyer.

Food insecurity among adults in their 60s and 70s is as high as 22%. Why is this the case, and why do fewer older adults participate in the SNAP program? (Russell Sage Foundation, 2025)