There are tremendous advantages if all LHINs were to work within a similar understanding of health equity – at best, a clear definition from the Province. The slides below contain a consensus definition of health equity that has proven practical and actionable.
Equity and Population Health
There are also links to further material on the social determinants of health that underlie health disparities. Material is also provided on systemic barriers and inequities within health care and why it is so important to build equity into health system planning and delivery.
Building From Solid Evidence
To make progress on health equity we need to embed equity into ongoing service planning and system performance management. And to do that we need solid actionable data. The POWER project provides this crucial data on health conditions, outcomes and service utilization by gender, socio-economic variables, region, language, ethno-cultural background, etc. – it’s an essential tool to operationalizing health equity and social determinants of health.
Bob Gardner spoke at a panel launching the chapter on access to services.
Making a Case for Equity
One critical challenge is boiling complex issues like health equity and social determinants down into plain language and inspiring ideas. Here is one attempt at an ‘elevator speech’ on health equity, and a speech outlining the need for social and provider mobilization to drive equity.
We have also developed workshops on related issues; for example on developing health promotion strategies and arguments with policy impact