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Health Disparities
What is meant by Health Disparities and Health Equity?
“A basic principle of public health is that all people have a right to
health. Differences in the incidence and prevalence of health conditions and
health status between groups are commonly referred to as health disparities.
Most health disparities affect groups marginalized because of socioeconomic
status, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability status,
geographic location, or some combination of these. People in such groups not
only experience worse health but also tend to have less access to the social
determinants or conditions (e.g., healthy food, good housing, good
education, safe neighborhoods, freedom from racism and other forms of
discrimination) that support health. Health disparities are referred to as
health inequities when they are the result of the systematic and unjust
distribution of these critical conditions. Health equity, as
understood in public health literature and practice, is when everyone has
the opportunity to ‘attain their full health potential’ and no one is
‘disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of their social
position or other socially determined circumstance.’”
—Excerpt from
Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address Social
Determinants of Health (PDF-6.3MB). Atlanta: U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; 2008; page 6.
How is the Steps Program addressing health disparities in communities?
Eliminating health disparities is an overarching goal of the Healthy
People 2010 national public health agenda and is a top priority for the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC’s Steps Program supports
eliminating socioeconomic and racial/ethnic health disparities as an
integral part of its chronic disease prevention and health promotion
efforts. In their local health improvement activities, Steps communities are
encouraged to identify and address social determinants of health (i.e., the
social, economic, and environmental conditions under which people are born,
grow up, live, work, and age, which influence their health). These
activities include raising awareness or increasing knowledge of social
determinants of health inequities and their influence on health; building
skills and capacities to change inequitable social, economic, or
environmental conditions or their influence on health; and improving these
conditions through policies, systems, and environmental changes. Equally important to the
goal of assuring equal access to high quality health care is the goal of
reducing other conditions that contribute to the emergence of chronic
diseases and conditions in the first place. Intervening on social
determinants of health requires Steps communities to expand the scope of
traditional public health efforts. Steps communities work with partners in education,
housing, transportation, work sites, and other sectors to reduce the effects of poverty and racism and
create healthier communities.
Resources on health disparities and related interventions for communities
The following list offers some helpful resources:
Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address Social
Determinants of Health (2008)
This workbook is for public health practitioners and partners interested in
developing initiatives to increase health equity in their communities. It reflects the views of experts from multiple arenas, including the
local community, public health, medicine, social work, sociology,
psychology, urban planning, community economic development, environmental
sciences, and housing. The workbook builds on existing resources and
highlights lessons learned by communities. Readers
are provided with information and tools to develop,
implement, and evaluate interventions in their communities that address
social determinants of health equity.
(Note:
Additional health disparities resources are also listed on this Web page.)
CDC's Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities
The "Eliminating Racial & Ethnic Health Disparities" Web page,
from the Office
of Minority Health & Health Disparities, provides fact sheets on six
health-related areas in which racial and ethnic minority groups experience
serious health disparities in access and outcomes: Infant Mortality, Cancer
Screening and Management, Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, HIV
Infection/AIDS, and Immunizations. These six areas were selected for
emphasis by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services because they
reflect areas of disparity that are known to affect multiple racial and
ethnic minority groups at all life stages. Additional
resources related to health disparities are also available at this link.
Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health — Resource Library
This listing of resources is located on CDC's Racial and Ethnic Approaches
to Community Health Across the U.S.(REACH U.S.) program's Web site.
Unnatural Causes...Is Inequality Making Us Sick? (2008)*
This 4-hour (7-part) documentary series, aired on PBS and available on DVD,
explores racial and socioeconomic inequalities in health. The UNNATURAL
CAUSES series and accompanying impact campaign aim to enlarge public
discourse about health. The opening 1-hour episode presents the series'
overarching themes. Each of the six supporting 25-minute episodes,
set in a different ethnic/racial community, provides a deeper exploration of
the ways in which social conditions affect population health and how some
communities are extending lives by improving them.
National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (OMH)
has developed the National Partnership for Action to mobilize and connect
individuals and organizations across the country to create a nation free of
health disparities, with quality health outcomes for all people. Also
included on this Web site is OMH's new Strategic Framework for Improving
Minority Health and Eliminating Health Disparities which aims to promote
systems approaches to understanding and eliminating racial and ethnic health
disparities through program, policy, and research activities.
Tackling Health Inequities Through Public Health Practice: A Handbook for
Action (2006)* (PDF-2.3MB)
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) offers
ideas, insight, and examples for local health departments to strengthen
their capacity for influencing the root causes of health inequities through
a social justice perspective. This publication 1) provides a conceptual
framework, raises questions, and spurs thought for exploring the nature and
causes of health inequity and what to do about them, and 2) provides a
knowledge base, resources, case studies, and suggestions for transforming
everyday public health practice, departmental structure, and organizational
culture in ways that may advance the attack on health inequities.
Reaching for a Healthier Life: Facts on Socioeconomic Status and Health in
the U.S. (2007)* (PDF-928KB)
This publication is the result of a decade of work by the MacArthur
Foundation Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health. This
multidisciplinary group of scientists has examined the pathways by which
socioeconomic status “gets into the body” to affect health and longevity.
There is no single pathway by which this occurs. Resources
associated with where people stand on the social ladder shape multiple
aspects of their lives in ways that affect their health and well-being.
Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity Through Action on the Social
Determinants of Health (2008)*
The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) had a 3-year
directive to gather and review evidence on what must be done to reduce
health inequalities within and between countries and to report its
recommendations for action to the Director-General of the World Health
Organization (WHO); this publication is the result of those efforts. The
CSDH is a global network of policy makers, researchers, and civil society
organizations brought together by WHO to give support in tackling the social
causes of poor health and avoidable health inequalities.
Health Disparities: A Selected Bibliography (2005)
This bibliography cites publications written by CDC staff and partners
during January 2000–January 2005. Included are peer-reviewed journal
articles, book chapters, and monographs focusing on the United States.
*Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a
service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization
by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is
not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found
at this link.
One or more documents on this Web page are available in Adobe Acrobat® Format
(PDF).
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF files on this page.
Page last reviewed: November 4, 2008
Page last modified: December 8, 2008
Content source: Division of Adult and
Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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