How local health departments work towards health equity |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, USA;2. Division of Public Health, Chronic Disease and Injury Section, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, 5505 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, NC 27609, USA;1. Department of Education, National Taipei University of Education, Taiwan;2. Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan, Taiwan;1. Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada;2. School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada;3. Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada;1. Department of Epidemiology, CAPHRI Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands;2. Department of Health Promotion, CAPHRI Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands;3. TNO, The Hague, The Netherlands;4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU Medical Center Amsterdam, Postbus 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands;1. Department of Rural Development Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran;2. Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran;1. Director Healthy Aging Program, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Mailstop F-78, United States;2. Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30341, United States;3. CDC-AARP Liaison, Michigan Public Health Institute, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program, 2436 Woodlake Drive, Okemos, MI, 48864, United States;4. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, United States;1. Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, The Pennsylvania State University, 402 Marion Place, University Park, PA 16802, USA;2. School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, Oregon State University, 410 Waldo Hall, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA;3. Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology and Education, The Pennsylvania State University, 107 Ferguson Bldg, University Park, PA 16802, USA |
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| Abstract: | BackgroundHealth inequities are exacerbated when health promotion programs and resources do not reach selected populations. Local health departments (LHDs)1 have the potential to address health equity via engaging priority populations in their work. However, we do not have an understanding of what local agencies are doing on this front.MethodsIn the summer of 2016, we collaborated with informants from thirteen LHDs across North Carolina. Via semi-structured interviews, the research team asked informants about their LHD’s understanding of health equity and engaging priority populations in program planning, implementation, and evaluation.FindingsAll informants discussed that a key function of their LHD was to improve the health of all residents. LHDs with a more comprehensive understanding of health equity engaged members of priority populations in their organizations’ efforts to a greater extent than LHDs with a more limited understanding. Additionally, while all LHDs identified similar barriers to engaging priority populations, LHDs that identified facilitators more comprehensively engaged members of the priority population in program planning, implementation, and evaluation.ConclusionsLHDs are ideally situated between the research and practice worlds to address health equity locally. To promote this work, we should ensure LHDs hold an understanding of health equity, have the means to realize facilitators of health equity work, and recognize the complex context in which health equity work exists. |
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| Keywords: | Health equity Program planning Engagement |
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