There are profound and systemic differences in how healthy people are and how long they live in all rich countries. The fundamental roots of these health disparities lie in social and economic inequality – the effects of inadequate housing, poverty, employment barriers, social exclusion and other broader social determinants of health. Another key factor is inequitable access to health care.
Many countries have developed comprehensive policies and programs to tackle health inequality, and community-based providers across Canada and around the world are working hard to address health disparities on the ground. This page sets out the kinds of policy changes needed to address health disparities and links to innovative policy, research and other resources on health equity from many jurisdictions.
- Advancing Health Equity in Tough Times
There is a serious chill within governments at all levels as the economy has declined and public finances have become constrained. This policy briefing sets out how to keep equity high on the agenda in the current fiscal climate.
- One Lever To Drive Health Equity Into Practice: Hospital Equity Plans
I’ve been working on pulling together various tools and resources to help policy makers and planners put health equity into practice — stay tuned here. One lever several LHINs have used is to have their partner hospitals do health equity plans. I looked again at this really useful analysis led by Sanjeev Sridharan of the hospital plans done within Toronto Central LHIN. This process proved very successful at mobilizing discussion and coordination within their organizations, and sharing experience across the system. The hospitals are now developing their second generation plans.
- Health Policy ‘Zombies’: One More Time
UBC health economist Bob Evans famously called arguments that Medicare is unsustainable or that we therefore need privatization zombies: meaning that these ideas are constantly refuted by all the evidence, yet they keep being raised again and again. Of course, that is because there are powerful interests driving these ideas. Economist Hugh Mackenzie and health policy consultant Dr Michael Rachlis have done an excellent analysis of how Medicare and a universal health system is sustainable and how the real answers to the pressures facing the system are better policy and management. They highlight that this debate is essentially political; that the fiscal pressures on health and other sectors come from government decisions to cut taxes and services, as opposed to inherent trends within the health system. They point the way forward: improved planning and management of care will control costs; service and organizational reforms can drive better quality care; enhanced primary care, health promotion and prevention can keep people well; and seeing all this as part of a comprehensive and integrated Second Stage of Medicare will underlie a vision of good health and well-being for all.
- Health Equity: Pushing the Boundaries
The theme of the Association of Ontario Health Centre’s annual conference was building equity and diversity into the core of community-based primary care and health promotion. I set out a broad framework on how to drive health equity into action through comprehensive strategies and clear priorities, putting these goals into practice through good planning and resource allocation, [...]
- 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. [...]
- Why Hospitals Need to Build Health Equity In
I was speaking to a hospital board member about the challenges of hospitals building health equity into their planning and service delivery. Some hospitals have shown significant leadership in prioritizing health equity and identifying ways their services can address health disparities and access barriers; other less so. I think there are five key arguments to hospital boards that have not sufficiently prioritized equity. [...]
- Health Equity Roadmap: Community Health Days
Equity is being emphasized in many Community Health Days organized across the province by Community Health Centres and other local partners. I spoke at the Kitchener day whose focus was on mobilizing for health equity for immigrant and refugees. I set out an overview of how to build health equity strategy, priorities and tools into action. [...]
- POWER, Data and Planning for Health Equity
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, [...]
- Using the Podiums We Have To Advance an Equity Agenda
I posted a speech I gave recently at a conference on health equity for children. One of the themes we talked about was that health care professionals and institutions have considerable prestige and social standing, and can use this privileged position to effectively speak to social issues beyond health. At the same time, there is broad sympathy for children’s health and kids facing health challenges. [...]
- Driving Health Equity for Kids: From the Earliest Years to Transforming the System
Health inequalities faced by children are storing up a lifetime of problems. I recently spoke at a conference on Achieving Health Equity For Kids: Whatever It Takes organized by the Hospital for Sick Children. I set out a roadmap to drive the fundamental changes needed to reduce the health disparities kids face across the province and country. [...]
- Not Lost in Translation: Interpretation and other drivers for health equity
Bob Gardner spoke to the Healthcare Interpretation Network on November 23, 2009 and argued that interpretation was one essential enabler of equitable access to high-quality health care and support. His talk set this in the context of other enablers and drivers of a comprehensive health equity strategy. [...]
- HIA Into Policy Development
The following resources are particularly useful for planning how results of assessments can be integrated into policy development. [...]
- Welcome to Canada – don’t get sick!
Canadians pride themselves on the universality of our health care system. Despite the obvious room for innovation and the need for improved health equity, we let out a sigh of relief because at least no one has to pay for care. Ever since the days of Tommy Douglas, Canadian governments have covered all medically necessary services. We scoff at our neighbors down south, grimacing at horror stories of leukemic children whose parents can’t afford the chemo, of uninsured diabetics who are refused routine check-ups. Thank goodness we live in Canada, right? [...]
- Senate Subcommittee Releases Report on Population Health
The Senate Subcommittee on Population Health has been analyzing the social determinants of health and the foundations of health inequalities for several years. Its final report A Healthy Productive Canada: a Determinant of Health Approach has just been released. [...]
- Blueprint for Action on the Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity
Presentation to the Portuguese-Canadian National Congress on the Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity. [...]
