African American and minority caregivers
continue to have an overrepresentation of poverty in comparison to other
demographic groups living in the United States
(US)1,2. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic
hematological disorder that disproportionately impacts African American
individuals in the US 1,3. According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention4, SCD affects
approximately 100,000 Americans; 1 of every 365 African American newborn
children have the disease, as well as 1 of every 16,300
Hispanic-American children within the US. Complications of SCD can
result in chronic and/or life-threatening sequalae due to vaso-occlusive
crises, bacterial infections, cerebral infarctions, and chronic anemia5,6,7,8,9.