Incorporating Health Equity into Foundational Skills of Public Health (Health Equity Guide)

This 59 page section {Section I] includes ideas for incorporating health equity into 7 foundational skills of public health practice i.e., organizational capacity, partnerships, evaluation, etcA Practitioner's Guide for Advancing Health Equity is a resource for practitioners, partners, and stakeholders working to advance health equity through community health interventions. While health disparities can be addressed at multiple levels, this guide focuses on policy, systems, and environmental improvements designed to improve the places where people live, learn, work, and play.Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke are the most common causes of illness, disability, and death affecting a growing number of Americans. Many of these chronic conditions tend to be more common, diagnosed later, and result in worse outcomes for particular individuals, such as people of color, people in low-income neighborhoods, and others whose life conditions place them at risk for poor health.Despite decades of efforts to reduce and eliminate health disparities, they persist\ue2\u20ac\u201dand in some cases, they are widening among some population groups. Such disparities do not have a single cause. They are created and maintained through multiple, interconnected, and complex pathways.While health disparities can be addressed at multiple levels, this resource focuses on policy, systems, and environmental improvement strategies designed to improve the places where people live, learn, work, and play. Many of the 20th and 21st century\ue2\u20ac\u2122s greatest public health achievements (e.g., water fluoridation, motor vehicle safety, food safety) have relied on the use of laws, regulations, and environmental improvement strategies. Health practitioners play an important role in these improvements by engaging the community, identifying needs, conducting analyses, developing partnerships, as well as implementing and evaluating evidence-based interventions.This resource was developed with the input and feedback of practitioners and researchers from across the United States.This document was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Prevention Institute, with funding support under contract 200-2007-20014 Task 009. The design and published components of this document were completed by Ogilvy Public Relations with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under contract 200-2010-F-33546.Suggested Citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \ue2\u20ac\u201c Division of Community Health. A Practitioner\ue2\u20ac\u2122s Guide for Advancing Health Equity: Community Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2013.CDC-INFO Pub ID 221638--- 221638 ---Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Section 1: Incorporating equity into foundational skills of public health -- Appendix A. Health disparities in chronic disease risk factors by population group -- Appendix B. Considerations for health equity-oriented strategy selection, design, and implementation -- Appendix C. Example resources for identifying and understanding health inequities -- Appendix D. Health equity checklist: considering health equity in the strategy development process \ue2\u20ac\u201c References.200-2007-20014200-2010-F-3354