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

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

"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

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If health care is a small part of health, how does a safety net hospital adapt?

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"At one of the busiest public hospitals in the nation, doctors have learned that to heal a patient on the inside, they must understand the patient’s world outside the exam room.

What kind of neighborhood do you live in? Are you buying healthy food? How are you getting to work? The questions are meant to uncover the root causes of what bring men and women into the Adult East Primary Care Clinic at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, just east of downtown L.A. Once that screening takes place and a doctor understands how a patient's health is impacted by homelesses, lack of nutrious food or trauma, a team of providers is ready to help. Nurses, social workers, community advocates, nutritionists, mental health specialists, medical students, and volunteers are ready to link a patient to, say, food stamps or psychological care, said Dr. Jagruti Shukla, director of primary care at LAC+USC..."

Susan Abram | July 25, 2018

This piece appears in the Center for Health Journalism Fellowships Blog


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If I lived on the North side: Neighborhood may matter more than race in breast cancer survival rates →

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If I lived on the North side: Neighborhood may matter more than race in breast cancer survival rates

"Racial disparities in breast cancer diagnosis and survival rates may have more to do with neighborhood than race, according to a new University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign analysis. The study looked at patients ages 19 to 91 from breast cancer registries in six states, including Illinois. More than 93,600 black women living in big cities from 1980 to 2010 were included in the data set (approximately 14,000 from Chicagoland), which looked at neighborhood racial composition and segregation poverty rates and access to mammography.

The study found that residential segregation, defined as living in a neighborhood with a predominantly African-American population, significantly increased black women’s rates of late-stage diagnosis and doubled their odds of dying from breast cancer. White women living in predominantly African-American neighborhoods had comparable mortality rates."

Darcel Rockett | July 9, 2018

To read the full article, please click here. This piece appears in the Chicago Tribune.


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Ensuring Rural Kids are Part of the Health Equity Conversation

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"People living in rural communities experience disparities in health outcomes that are avoidable, unfair and unjust. Rural children especially face socioeconomic, geographic and environmental barriers that influence their health conditions, outcomes and behaviors. Access to health care services plays a large role, but so too do intersecting shortcomings in physical infrastructure, broadband internet, transportation, housing, education and just economic systems. Rural children of color—particularly in the South, along the U.S./Mexico border and on Native land—battle discrimination, racism and marginalization that continues to contribute to the worst health disparities in our nation." This piece from PolicyLab offers insight into rural communities, providers and researchers that are partnering to care for children and families in rural areas.

Jennifer Whittaker Mup | July 05, 2018

This piece is from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Policy Lab Blog

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Early Childhood is Critical to Health Equity→

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Early Childhood is Critical to Health Equity

"The first few years of life set us on paths toward - or away from -  health and well-being in childhood and as adults. Experiences in early childhood - defined here as the first five years of life - are therefore critical to having a fair chance to be healthy across the lifespan." The second report in a series on health equity from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), this report explores conditions in early childhood that shape health throughout life, how we can set all children on a path toward lifelong health, the business case for investing in early childhood, and a call to action. 

Read the full report from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation here.

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A Health Equity and Value Framework for Action: Delivery and Payment Transformation Policy Options to Reduce Health Disparities→

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A Health Equity and Value Framework for Action: Delivery and Payment Transformation Policy Options to Reduce Health Disparities

This policy options paper represents a collaborative effort among state and national health equity thought leaders to catalyze much needed action to leverage health system transformation for the benefit of those whom the health system is leaving behind. Ensuring that those facing the biggest barriers to good health and high-quality health care are served well by the health care system will improve care for everyone. 

Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, Ellen Albritton, Eliot Fishman, Sophia Tripoli, Andrea Callow | June 2018

This piece appears in Families USA: The voice for Health Care Consumers

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Untangling the Complex Issue of Health Equity in Michigan→

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Untangling the Complex Issue of Health Equity in Michigan

"Imagine this: Your child has tested positive for lead poisoning, so you request a city inspection of your home. At the same time, you receive an eviction notice. You follow up with the city to find out when the lead inspection will occur so you can use it to fight your eviction notice, but the city has canceled the inspection because of your eviction. In the same week, you have your second child, who will grow up in transitional housing after your eviction." This article is part of State of Health, a new series examining health disparities, how they affect Michigan's children and seniors, and the innovative solutions being developed to address them.

Sarah Rigg | June 21, 2018

This piece appears in Second Wave Michigan

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