A huge amount of research and analysis highlights the importance of health promotion and preventive care and support. Investing up-stream in program and policy changes that can prevent ill health and provide people with the information, resources and support they need to stay healthy can help to prevent down-stream sickness and acute care expenditure. But this is more than just about promoting healthy lifestyles; effective health promotion must also take into account the wider social, economic, and political factors that shape the opportunities for good health. Advice to eat fresh vegetables is of little use to people who survive on a social assistance diet; calls to exercise more can’t be taken up so easily in communities without safe open space or recreational facilities.
It is crucial that health promotion also take into account the very different circumstances and needs of the most health disadvantaged populations. When it doesn’t, generic health promotion education and programs tend to be taken up disproportionately by more educated and advantaged people; and health disparities can become worse. Similarly, effective health promotion takes equity and diversity into account in its planning and delivery. For example, programs may need to be delivered in the languages and cultures of particular ethno-cultural communities.
Wellesley has addressed health promotion through an equity lens in a range of reports, workshops and presentations.
Preventing and managing chronic diseases is also a crucial element of progressive health reform, and it too must be seen through an equity lens. Diabetes illustrates the need to build equity in. Its incidence and impact vary dramatically with social and economic conditions; and efforts to prevent or help people manage their conditions cannot be effective unless they take this into account.
- Building Equity and Social Determinants of Health Into ‘Healthy Communities’ Planning
- Health Promotion Through an Equity Lens
Health Promotion Through an Equity Lens
Wendy Rice
Health promotion is crucial to keeping people well and preventing illness. A major challenge is that many health promotion programs are focused on individual behaviour and do not take peoples’ unequal conditions and opportunities into account. As a result, they are not effective for vulnerable and marginalized communities, and can actually make disparities worse if programs are taken up disproportionately by the more advantaged. This paper by Wendy Rice analyzes how equity can be built into health promotion.
- Primary Care as A Key Driver of Health Equity
Evidence from around the world shows that enhancing access to high quality comprehensive primary care for disadvantaged people and communities is one of them most important directions for addressing health inequalities. Community health centres are a vital part of this direction in Canada and many other countries, and the recent AOHC conference on Health Equity: Pushing the Boundaries highlighted how to drive this into action on the ground (I spoke on how do this). [...]
- Health Equity Strategy Into Action for Public Health
The Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion has a vital role in supporting an innovative and effective public health system. The Agency has highlighted equity in its strategic priorities. I presented a workshop there on how to build equity into practice through planning, priority setting, resource allocation and performance management, and how health promotion can be approached through an equity lens. [...]
- e-Health, Health Promotion and Health Equity
The proliferation of electronic health information technology (e-health) tools is crucial to progressive and responsive health reform. However, while more comprehensive electronic health records and more efficient health care delivery are important, e-health implementation must also focus on reducing stark health disparities and ensuring equitable access for all to e-health tools and the quality improvements that they bring. [...]
- Health Promotion with Policy Impact
Bob Gardner developed and presented a workshop on health promotion with policy impact to the annual Health Promotion Ontario conference. It was designed to help people in various health promotion positions and sectors make a strong case for needed programmes, [...]
- Diabetes Planning Through an Equity Lens
Wellesley Board member Jan Campbell, in her capacity as a consultant to the Greater Toronto CHC Network, and Bob Gardner, Director of Policy and Research, along with Lynne Raskin, ED of South Riverdale CHC, and Laura Cowan, ED of Street Health, facilitated a workshop on applying the urban health framework developed by the GT CHCs to planning diabetes. [...]
- OPHA Symposium: Blueprint for Health Equity
Bob Gardner, Director of Research and Policy, presented at the OPHA in November 2007 on health equity, chronic disease, and the social determinants of health. His Blueprint for Health Equity talk sets out promising policy directions and action to reduce health disparities. [...]
