Recent English research on volunteering highlights the analytical value of drilling down into small-scale neighbourhood-based analyses to better understand the dynamics of poor communities. More and more research, including projects in which the Wellesley Institute is involved, focuses on how variations in community structure and connections, access to services and other social determinants in local […]
Health systems and Health equity
Inclusive Cities Project
The Inclusive Cities project is a partnership of community social planning organizations and municipal politicians from across the country that seeks to enhance cities’ ability to enable and sustain social inclusion and to ensure the full diversity of community voices are valued and recognized. They have developed a range of very useful papers, including on: […]
Addressing Systemic Access Barriers: the Potential of Peer Health Ambassadors and other Community-Based Innovation
Addressing systemic barriers in access to care is one of the crucial challenges facing the Ontario health system. One such area is inequitable access to screening and preventative care, inequities that can have devastating outcomes. Some very promising collaborations are underway in Peel Region to improve access to cancer screening for South Asian populations. I […]
Health Equity: Driving Strategy into Action
The Wellesley Institute researches and analyzes the policy changes needed to address the social determinants of health that underlie pervasive and damaging health inequities. Last week Bob Gardner and Steve Barnes spoke to a group of CIHR fellows about driving health equity strategies into action. Bob spoke about acting on health equity within the health […]
Important progress toward a health-enabling social assistance system, but more work is required
The release today of the final report of the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario recommends a number of important steps toward improving the health of people on social assistance. Increasing rates Most significantly, the Commission recommended an immediate increase of $100 per month for single people receiving Ontario Works (OW). OW […]
Childhood obesity: it’s about more than banning marketing of junk food
The media had a field day yesterday with the proposal from Ontario’s Healthy Kids Panel to ban marketing of junk food to kids under 12. Sadly, this missed a number of crucial recommendations that would address the underlying contributors to childhood obesity. The Wellesley Institute provided a key report that informed the Healthy Kids Panel: […]
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Closing the Gap
The European Commission has initiated a major project ” Closing the Gap: Strategies for Action to Tackle Health Inequalities ” to address health disparities. They have created a European Health Inequalities Portal with links to relevant agencies and networks, a database of best practices and country specific data on polices and programs. Among their very […]
Planning Resources on Community Health and Development
The KU Work Group on Community Health and Development provides a range of useful planning resources on community development as one crucial direction for improving population health and addressing health inequities. Established in 1975, it was designated by the World Health Organization as a WHO Collaborating Centre in 2004 Its core values and assumptions are:
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How the Social Assistance System Causes Poor Health
Income and health are inextricably linked. It is well documented that people with low income more likely to have poor health, whether measured by self-reported health, mental health, prevalence of chronic conditions, or many other indicators. In Ontario: Over three times as many people in the lowest income group report their health to be only […]
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Health Equity Resources
This online resource is about moving from strategy to practice–operationalizing equity within the health system. It provides a range of tools, techniques, briefing notes, research findings and other resources that LHINs, and the providers and stakeholders they partner with, can use to implement health equity strategies and initiatives in the most effective ways for their regions and needs.
Continue ReadingHealth Equity Resources Download PublicationHealth Equity Resources Flip Sheet