New Research Examines Link Between Housing Discrimination and Community Stroke Levels

Blue brain with red pathways

In the 1930s, the government backed the practice of redlining — setting aside certain neighborhoods that were deemed too risky for banks to offer mortgages on homes there. Redlining resulted in systemic disinvestment in poor urban communities made up of a majority of Black and Hispanic residents.

Almost 100 years later, the effects of those policies can still be seen in the health of people living in previously redlined neighborhoods. That’s the thesis behind new research from Charles C. Esenwa, MD, Medical Director, Montefiore Comprehensive Center for Stroke Care; Daniel Labovitz, MD, Chief, Division of Vascular Neurology, Montefiore Einstein; The Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology; and Benjamin Jadow, a student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Charles C. Esenwa, M.D.
Charles C. Esenwa, MD
Daniel L. Labovitz, M.D.
Daniel L. Labovitz, MD

We wanted to know whether practices from 100 years ago created residual social pressures that aren’t recognized as a factor in community health.

Charles C. Esenwa, MD