scholarly journals Reducing Health Inequities Through Intersectoral Action: Balancing Equity in Health With Equity for Other Social Goods

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Maxwell J. Smith ◽  
Daniel Weinstock
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Education Equity ◽  
Intersectoral Action ◽  
Equity In Health ◽  
General Account ◽  
Equity Research ◽  
Social Goods ◽  
Significant Attention

Significant attention has been devoted to developing intersectoral strategies to reduce health inequities; however, these strategies have largely neglected to consider how equity in health ought to be weighted and balanced with the pursuit of equity for other social goods (eg, education equity). Research in this domain is crucial, as the health sector’s pursuit of health equity may be at odds with policies in other sectors, which may consider the reduction of health inequities to be peripheral to, if not incompatible with, their own equity-related aims. It is therefore critical that intersectoral strategies to reduce health inequities be guided by a more general account of social justice that is capable of carefully balancing equity in health against the pursuit of equity in other sectors.

Towards health equity and social justice: an applied framework of decolonization in health promotion

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 831-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Paul Chandanabhumma ◽  
Subasri Narasimhan
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
Health Promotion Practice

Abstract The pursuit of health equity and social justice lie at the heart of community-empowered health promotion practice. However, there is a need to address the colonial legacy and its contributions to health inequities. The process of decolonization is essential to eliminating the mechanisms that contributed to such inequities. To this end, we propose an Applied Decolonial Framework for Health Promotion that integrates decolonial processes into health promotion practice. We present characteristics of the framework, its values for health promotion transformations and considerations for using the framework in health promotion practice. The framework will help health promotion stakeholders attend to colonizing structures within the field and engage with communities to achieve social justice and health equity.

scholarly journals Cautionary accounts in the use of health equity measures from linkable administrative data in population health intervention research

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Nickel ◽  
Dan Chateau ◽  
Marni Brownell ◽  
Alan Katz ◽  
Elaine Burland
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Breastfeeding Initiation ◽  
Equity Research ◽  
Health Equity Research ◽  
Equity Measures ◽  
Linkable Administrative Data

ABSTRACT ObjectivesThere is increased interest in identifying strategies the reduce health inequities. With this focus, population health scientists have applied equity measures first developed in other disciplines to health equity research. The objective of this study is to illustrate the application of these measures in research using linkable administrative databases. This presentation will provide a brief description of some commonly-used equity measures and issues investigators face when applying them in their own health equity research. MethodsAnalyses focused on children born in Manitoba, 1984 to 2014. We used linkable administrative data from health, social services, and education to develop indicators of health and the social determinants of health. Income data from the Canadian Census were used to stratify children by socioeconomic status. Our study considered the distribution of several child outcomes: breastfeeding initiation, mortality, complete immunization rates at age 2, Grade 9 completion, and high school completion. We examined several measures often used to capture income-related health inequities: rate ratios and rate differences comparing children from high-income neighbourhoods with children from low-income neighbourhoods; the concentration index which quantifies the equity in the distribution of outcomes across the entire socioeconomic gradient; and the relative and absolute indices of inequality which compare the most advantaged individuals with the least advantaged individuals in the population while accounting for the distribution of health across the population. ResultsWhen these measures are applied to health equity, they can be affected by factors not initially considered by investigators. The application of Concentration measures using health outcomes that are frequently dichotomized, and the prevalence of the health outcome can affect the degree of inequity that is possible, with highly prevalent outcomes showing very little divergence from the line of equity. Comparing concentration measures to the inequality indices can produce contradictory and seemingly incompatible results. Sample selection that alters the distribution of income from the population can also change the apparent equity of health outcomes. These matters are complicated when monitoring changes in health equity, over time. ConclusionsSummary measures of equity can be useful but come with limitations that need to be considered when interpreting and applying study findings. We offer some suggestions to consider when applying these measures in health equity research.

scholarly journals Health inequities and technological solutions during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in high-income countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 175797592098418
Author(s):  
Muriel Mac-Seing ◽  
Robson Rocha de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
High Income ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
And Control ◽  
Political Decisions

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in massive disruptions to public health, healthcare, as well as political and economic systems across national borders, thus requiring an urgent need to adapt. Worldwide, governments have made a range of political decisions to enforce preventive and control measures. As junior researchers analysing the pandemic through a health equity lens, we wish to share our reflections on this evolving crisis, specifically: (a) the tenuous intersections between the responses to the pandemic and public health priorities; (b) the exacerbation of health inequities experienced by vulnerable populations following decisions made at national and global levels; and (c) the impacts of the technological solutions put forward to address the crisis. Examples drawn from high-income countries are provided to support our three points.

scholarly journals Achieving Health Equity by Addressing Legacies of Racial Violence in Public Health Practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 694 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Darrell Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Black People ◽  
Public Health Practice ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Optimal Level ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Historical Factors

Health equity means that everyone, regardless of their abilities, economic status, or race/ethnicity, has the opportunity to reach their optimal level of health. However, the inequitable distribution of resources, power, and privilege in the United States means that historically marginalized communities bear a disproportionate burden of poor health and disease. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the problem for Black Americans: already bearing an unequal burden of social, economic, and health inequities and experiencing systemic racism in various sectors of American life, Black Americans have been at even greater risk of COVID-19 transmission and severity of the disease. I use critical race theory (CRT) to show how key social and historical factors fuel racial health inequities. Further, I use key tenets of CRT to argue that redressing historical legacies of racism cannot be done without using a critical, race conscious lens and lifting up the voices of Black people.

scholarly journals Health Equity Research in Nursing and Midwifery: Time to Expand Our Work

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-61
Author(s):  
Deonni Stolldorf ◽  
Hayley D. Germack ◽  
Jordan Harrison ◽  
Kathryn Riman ◽  
Heather Brom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Equity ◽  
Equity Research ◽  
Health Equity Research

The Role of Citizen Science in Promoting Health Equity

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa G. Rosas ◽  
Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa ◽  
Felipe Montes Jimenez ◽  
Abby C. King
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Health Equity ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Scientific Process

While there are many definitions of citizen science, the term usually refers to the participation of the general public in the scientific process in collaboration with professional scientists. Citizen scientists have been engaged to promote health equity, especially in the areas of environmental contaminant exposures, physical activity, and healthy eating. Citizen scientists commonly come from communities experiencing health inequities and have collected data using a range of strategies and technologies, such as air sensors, water quality kits, and mobile applications. On the basis of our review, and to advance the field of citizen science to address health equity, we recommend ( a) expanding the focus on topics important for health equity, ( b) increasing the diversity of people serving as citizen scientists, ( c) increasing the integration of citizen scientists in additional research phases, ( d) continuing to leverage emerging technologies that enable citizen scientists to collect data relevant for health equity, and ( e) strengthening the rigor of methods to evaluate impacts on health equity. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Public Health, Volume 43 is April 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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