December 17, 2019

Long-Range Planning for Health, Equity & Prosperity - A Primer for Local Governments

December 17, 2019/ CACHE

ChangeLab Solutions has developed a resource by integrating health and equity considerations into planning practices. “This primer poses a series of questions in order to provoke thoughts on how planners can prioritize health and equity in their work. Readers of this resource will also gain an understanding of the ways that planning can support or impede health equity, as well as insight into how to integrate health and equity into everyday planning practice and decisionmaking. The Primer is for planners, local leaders, advocates, researchers, and consultants who want to advance health and equity in their communities through long-range planning.”

Highlighted from ChangeLab Solutions. Read more here.

February 20, 2019

Principles for Building Healthy and Prosperous Communities→

February 20, 2019/ CACHE

From our partners at Build Healthy Places Network comes Principles for Building Healthy and Prosperous Communities: For work across sectors in low-income communities to improve health and well-being.“ These principles are derived from a thematic review of mission statements and principles from 35 organizations representing the community development, health, academic, government, finance, and philanthropic sectors. More than 200 respondents provided over 1,800 comments which helped refine the principles.”

Learn more about the principles here.

February 14, 2019

As Awareness Around the Importance of Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity Increases, State Legislation Follows Suit

February 14, 2019/ CACHE

From the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), comes this blog post titled “As Awareness Around the Importance of Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity Increases, State Legislation Follows Suit”. This post highlights bills across the country that have been introduced which explicitly mention the Social Determinants of Health or health-related social needs.

“An emerging trend across several of these bills is an awareness of the interplay between the social determinants of health and the creation of healthy and resilient communities…” Read the full post here.

August 25, 2018

Counting a Diverse Nation: Disaggregating Data on Race and Ethnicity to Advance a Culture of Health

August 25, 2018/ CACHE

"Racial and ethnic health disparities and inequities can only be eliminated if high-quality information is available by which to track immediate problems and the underlying social determinants of health. Such information can guide the design and application of culturally specific approaches to medicine and public health. Often, health outcomes are disaggregated only by broad racial and ethnic categories such as White, Black, or Hispanic. However, the great, and growing, diversity of the American population means that people’s actual experiences are much more specific.

The U.S. has numerous compelling reasons to build and maintain a much more robust practice of disaggregating data below the level of major racial groups and to link these data to the factors that influence health. Improving how we create, understand, and handle disaggregated data about race and ethnicity is central to the pursuit of health equity and a deeper appreciation of American society overall..."

Read the full report from Policy Link.

August 25, 2018

Community Control of Land & Housing

August 25, 2018/ CACHE

Community Control of Land & Housing: Exploring strategies for combating displacement, expanding ownership, and building community wealth. This report from Democracy Collaborative is based on dozens of interviews with practitioners, academics, and community members, as well as a review of various reports, studies, and surveys. The report shares the resulting findings through key research insights, a review of best practices, and relevant examples. It seeks to broaden awareness, discourse, and adoption of community control of land and housing strategies among various stakeholders who have a genuine desire to see stable, healthy, equitable, and sustainable local communities flourish.

Read the full report here.

August 13, 2018

Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment: Equity Action Guide→

August 13, 2018/ CACHE

"Where we live, work, learn and play has a lasting impact on our health. The social facors that create health disparities also cause disparities in areas such as housing and transportation. The Office of Health Equity, in partnership with community organizations and other state agencies, developed a Colorado Equity Action Guide that looks at the root causes of inequity across Colorado through an in-depth review of community characteristics, stories and data. It leverages cross-sector collaboration and promotes data-sharing for sustainable community informed decision-making to advance equity."

Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment

To access the guide, please click here.

August 08, 2018

8 Policies that Have Contributed to Place Based Health Disparities Across Generations→

August 08, 2018/ CACHE

"Where you live plays a significant role in how healthy you are. But when it comes to promoting health, not all neighborhoods are created equal. And neighborhoods with the best access to health-promoting resources — like quality housing, good jobs, well-maintained parks, healthy food, and excellent schools — aren’t accessible to everyone.

Today, many of the differences between neighborhoods exist because of decades’ worth of interrelated policies that have cumulatively influenced where investment and opportunity have concentrated and who has access to them. The result is increasing health disparities and exacerbated inequities in communities across the country. Read on to learn more about 8 laws and policies that have created unhealthy places and about tools and resources that can help heal policy harms and create healthy neighborhoods for all..."

Erik Calloway & Chassidy Hanley | August 6, 2018

The read the 8 policies from ChangeLab Solutions, please click here.

August 06, 2018

The Health Opportunity and Equity Initiative (HOPE)

August 06, 2018/ CACHE

"The Health Opportunity and Equity (HOPE) Initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was launched to start a new conversation about health because we believe that every person in the U.S., no matter their background or ZIP code, should have a fair and just opportunity for the best possible health and well-being.

The HOPE Initiative tracks 28 indicators that span the life course, including health outcomes and indicators related to opportunity such as socioeconomic factors, the physical and social environment, and access to health care at the state and national level. Gaps in health do not develop by chance or by choice. These measures were chosen because they reflect the systems and policies that affect health equity. Data are also provided by race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, making this the first tool of its kind..."

To learn more about Health Opportunity and Equity Initiative, visit the website here.

July 28, 2018

Partnerships for Health Equity and Opportunity: A Healthcare Playbook for Community Developers→

July 28, 2018/ CACHE

"The United States spends nearly $3.5 trillion on medical care each year, with more than 80 percent spent on treating chronic disease — most of which is avoidable and concentrated among those living in low-income communities. Thus, over $1 trillion is spent every year on treating avoidable disease created by conditions of poverty, which can negatively affect the health of future generations.

What if we changed the paradigm from treating to preventing and reinvested that $1 trillion towards eliminating the intergenerational transmission of poor health and poverty? What would it take for prevention to encompass not just diet and exercise, but other dimensions like financial health, stable housing, access to healthy food, education, even community empowerment and agency?

This playbook from PHI's Build Healthy Places Network guides community developers toward partnerships with hospitals and healthcare systems. As stewards for the communities they serve, the community development sector develops and finances the physical spaces, infrastructure, and essential services needed to live a healthy and productive life and can serve as an action arm for advancing population health and health equity."

From Public Health Institute's Build Healthy Places Network comes the report Partnerships for Health Equity and Opportunity: A Healthcare Playbook for Community Developers. This piece can be found on Public Health Institute's Resource Page.

July 28, 2018

Health departments placing stronger emphasis on equity: Achieving social justice in public health→

July 28, 2018/ CACHE

"Data-driven public health policy has long been at the center of the Kansas City health department’s equity work, which began, in earnest, nearly two decades ago after data revealed a more than six-year life expectancy gap between the city’s black and white residents, with about half of the city’s annual deaths attributable to factors such as poverty, segregation, violence and lack of education. The data pushed the agency to begin the process of shifting its focus from health disparities to health inequities, with an eye toward remedying the conditions that confer greater health opportunity to certain populations over others.

After years of work, health equity values are part of everyday practice at the health department, with many of its equity wins driven by a mix of policy, partnership, data and community engagement. Just recently, for example, the health department successfully persuaded the city to adopt an official five-year business development plan that includes a strategic objective to increase overall life expectancy and reduce health inequities, with a goal of incentivizing development in neighborhoods in need of services and jobs..."

First in a series on health equity, which ties into the theme of APHA's 2018 Annual Meeting and Expo: "Creating the Healthiest Nation: Health Equity Now." This piece appears in the July edition of The Nation's Health.

Kim Krisberg | July 2018

Articles/Reports

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