Evidence for Health Equity
While there is a large and growing evidence base regarding the social determinants of poor health and health inequities, efforts to achieve health equity through community change and improvements in social determinants are emergent in the scholarly literature. Terms like “best practices” and “evidence-based practices” are difficult to interpret and apply when working with communities. This is because community-based and community-oriented work is, by definition, unique to each community. Public health practice must embrace the preferences of the targeted population or community in addition to taking into account the needs, assets, and resources of that community.
This model is particularly relevant to efforts to promote health equity, given the need to prioritize community empowerment and social context. For these reasons, we present this guide is a compilation of promising approaches, informed by the literature, that are meant to be adapted for community needs, assets, preferences, and available resources
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Section 7 of the guide describes the kinds of data and capacity needed to better understand and monitor health inequities at the community and state levels. It includes a discussion of strategies for evaluating health equity initiatives, and highlights ongoing challenges with respect to collecting and analyzing data needed for research and evaluation that advances health equity.
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