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The Language of Health Equity |
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The language of health equity is changing, and while the concepts surrounding the equity debate have been extensively discussed in literature, these terms lack standard operationalization mechanisms and conceptual consistency of use.
This page is an extraction of the Glossary sections in the health equity guide, and is an attempt to clarify our use of the terms.
This page is an extraction of the Glossary sections in the health equity guide, and is an attempt to clarify our use of the terms.
Ally
A member of a dominant social group (e.g., men, whites, heterosexuals) who is working to end the system of oppression that gives him or her greater privilege and power based on membership in that social group
Built Environment
Elements of the physical environment made by humans, such as sidewalks, roadways, and buildings. The term can refer to infrastructure as well as spatial and cultural aspects of places and is often used in relation to urban design or in relation to natural environments modified by people.
Community
Traditionally defined as a physical location such as a ZIP code. It can also refer to a group of individuals that share common characteristics, identity, experiences, or values. For the purposes of this guide, “community” refers to a physical location and the stakeholders and institutions within it
Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
An approach to research that involves an equitable partnership between and among community members and researchers in all aspects of the research process and in which all partners contribute expertise and share decision-making and ownership. The aim of CBPR is to increase knowledge and understanding of a given phenomenon and integrate the knowledge gained with interventions, policy, and social change to improve the health and quality of life of community members.
Community Health Workers (CHWs)
Members of a community that provide basic, culturally appropriate, and accessible health information to hard–to-reach members of the community. CHWs can provide basic health services, counseling, and other support services or linkages to community resources. They can be considered as a link between health care providers and community members.
Collective Impact
Collaboration across disciplines and sectors to solve complex social problems. It is grounded in the premise that no single organization can create large- scale, lasting social change alone.
Cultural Competence
“Having the capacity to function effectively as an individual and an organization within the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviors, and needs presented by consumers and their communities” (OMH, 2001).
Healthy Community
A community in which every member has access to the resources they need to live a healthy life, including housing, education, food, income, a safe environment, and positive social interactions. It includes social justice, equity, and sustainable resources and is free of all forms of discrimination. Furthermore, by viewing communities geographically, one can envision healthy places as those that are designed or built to improve the quality of life for all people who live, work, worship, learn, and play within their borders.
Health Equity
Achieving the conditions in which all people have the opportunity to reach their health potential; the highest level of health for all people.
Health INequity
A health disparity which is unnecessary, avoidable, unfair, and unjust; a socially-determined difference in health.
Health In All Policies (HiAP)
A collaborative approach that makes health considerations explicit in decision-making across sectors and policy domains. A HiAP approach convenes diverse stakeholders to consider how their work influences health and how collaborative efforts can improve health while advancing other goals.
Health Impact Assessment
A systematic process that uses a variety of data sources and research methods, and considers input from a range of stakeholders to determine the potential effects of a proposed policy, plan, or action on the health of a population and the distribution of those effects within the population.
Healthy Public Policy
A policy that is explicitly responsive to health needs. It may be a health policy, designed specifically to promote health. Alternately, it may be a policy outside of what is typically thought of as health policy, but promotes health or positively influences the determinants of health.
Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH)
A team-based health care delivery model led by a physician that provides comprehensive and coordinated medical care to patients with the goal of obtaining maximized health outcomes. Care coordination, which may require additional resources such as health information technology and payment incentives, is an essential component of the PCMH. PCMHs are also referred to as “patient-centered medical homes” or simply “medical homes.”
Place Based Initiative (PBI)
A social change effort that is concentrated in a specific geographic area. Health equity strategies focused on living conditions in a specific geographic community are often referred to as PBIs because the target of the interventions is the place itself (or characteristics of the place), rather than the people living there.
Social Determinants of Health
The circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, as well as the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics.
Social Determinants of Health Equity
The underlying social, economic, and political structures that determine the quality and distribution of resources needed for health.
Triple AIM
A framework developed by the Institute for Health care Improvement to optimize health system performance by simultaneously pursuing three dimensions: improving the patient experience of care (including quality and satisfaction), improving the health of populations, and reducing the per capita cost of health care.