Health Equity
Health equity means that every person has an equal opportunity to be healthy and well. Opportunities to be healthy and well are often assessed by examining the Seven Vital Conditions, or the Social Determinants of Health (e.g. humane housing, meaningful work and wealth). While achieving health equity is intuitively imperative and a goal of many organizations and change-makers working to advance equitable well-being, it’s also a common challenge. This is because inequities are created when barriers exist that prevent individuals and communities from reaching their full potential to be healthy and well, and there are many such barriers in communities across the Nation. Examples of barriers to well-being include poverty, discrimination, and racism, all of which can have consequences like lack of affordable housing, and lack of access to good-paying jobs or high-quality, culturally appropriate health care. To achieve health equity, we must not only decrease barriers, but also remove the societal circumstances that are a result of these barriers. To be clear, decreasing poverty is positive, but if those in poverty still lack access to health care, we have not achieved health equity.
One of the most difficult things about working toward health equity is that in many cases barriers to well-being exist because of conditions that have persisted in the U.S. for years, if not decades. It’s challenging to reverse these long-standing conditions due to their pervasive nature and the way they are deeply embedded in society. For example, racism in the U.S. is systemic and has historically prevented people of color from having the same opportunities as their white counterparts for economic, physical, and mental health. Without health equity, vulnerable populations are at risk for disparate access to community resources and conditions that create well-being because of economic, cultural, racial, or physical characteristics. Importantly, improved overall population health is not necessarily a sign of increased health equity. Health equity is demonstrated through a decrease in health disparities—worse health outcomes in marginalized groups.
While overall health in the U.S. has improved significantly in the last century (the life expectancy today is drastically improved as compared to 100 years ago), health disparities persist. We see evidence of this even in the recent progression of the COVID-19 pandemic, where people of color are disproportionately represented among coronavirus cases.
Achieving increased health equity will require engagement with people in historically marginalized communities that have experienced barriers to well-being, many of whom are advocating for themselves in unprecedented and impactful ways. It will also require allyship and commitment and work from stewards across systems and sectors to decrease barriers to conditions that lead to well-being. Adoption of a well-being framework like the Vital Conditions for Well-Being acknowledges the interconnectedness of our physical health to the community conditions in which we live, and the corresponding disparities in these conditions because of a lack of health equity. Additionally, as we consider use of data and measurement to track progress toward health equity, “a commitment to health equity requires constant monitoring not only of overall (average) levels of health and the resources [conditions] needed for health in a whole population, but also routinely comparing how more and less advantaged groups within that population are faring.”
Featured Resources
Resources & Tools
Aligning Systems with Communities to Advance Equity through Shared Measurement: Guiding Principles
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences
A Practitioner's Guide for Advancing Health Equity: Community Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease
Resource - Guide/handbook
PHERN Helps Changemakers End the Pandemic, Advance Equity, Build a Public Health System for the Future
Story
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 03/31/2022
Beyond Inclusion: Pronoun Use for Health and Well-Being
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 10/20/2021
Diversity Data Kids
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy
Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting Health and Health Equity
Resource - Policy Brief
Brought to you by KFF
Communicating About Equity in Health Impact Assessment: A Guide for Practitioners
Resource - Guide/handbook

Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by CDC
Long-Range Planning for Health, Equity & Prosperity: A Primer for Local Governments
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by ChangeLab Solutions
Early Childhood Education to Promote Health Equity: A Community Guide Systematic Review
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Growth and Equity: Analyzing Impacts on Displacement and Opportunity Related to Seattle’s Growth Strategy
Resource - Assessment/evaluation
Published on 05/01/2016
Using Arts and Culture to Advance Equity and Inclusion
Resource - Report
Brought to you by Inclusive Debuque
Health Equity Policy Platform for COVID-19 Response and Recovery
Resource - Website/webpage
Brought to you by HIP
Why Place Matters: Building a Movement for Healthy Communities
Resource - Report
Brought to you by PolicyLink
Increasing School Connectedness for Girls: Restorative Justice as a Health Equity Resource
Resource - Policy Brief
School-Based Health Centers to Advance Health Equity A Community Guide Systematic Review
Resource - Journal Article
Brought to you by Elsevier, Inc.
In Common Newsletter: The Growing Gap
Resource
Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 03/23/2022
Complete Streets for Health Equity: An Evaluation of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish
Resource
Brought to you by Smart Growth America
The Generational Impact Of Racism On Health: Voices From American Indian Communities
Resource - Journal Article
Resource Guide: Operationalizing Anti-Racism, Social Justice, and Health Equity Principles through Performance Improvement
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by NNPHI
Healthcare Equality Index 2018
Resource - Assessment/evaluation
Brought to you by Human Rights Campaign
Thriving Together: A Springboard for Equitable Recovery and Resilience in Communities Across America
Resource - Report
Brought to you by Well Being Trust
We Are Here: Housing Insecurity in Cincinnati: The Collection
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Learning from the Past and Creating New Legacies of Equitable Vaccination
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
American Rescue Plan 101: A Call for Equitable Recovery and Systems Renewal
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
American Rescue Plan in Action: Leveraging Flexible Funding and Community Engagement for Equitable Recovery
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Tribal Health: Reinvesting in the Indian Health Service
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Telemental Health Provides Opportunity to Improve Population Mental Health
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
The Surgeon General Connects Community Health and Economic Prosperity
Story
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Original
Brought to you by Community Commons
Data & Metrics
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