Equity in Healthcare - Usual and Customary

Equity in healthcare is becoming a buzz word as the evidence of racial and ethnic injustice continues to surge.  However, without inclusive implementation of multi-level policies, the disparities will continue.  The excess and unnecessary disability and death will continue.  In spite of reforms and short-term initiatives, Health Equity will remain a far-off vision. 

As Dr. Billiouxn alluded to in “Making 2019 the Year of Public Health for Louisiana,” if systemic racism, structural poverty and structural violence in healthcare can be conceptualized, expressed and then legitimized, then the culture can be shifted significantly.  Public Health successes will only impact the relative ranking of Louisiana when leaders in all economic sectors expand their partnerships to include those who speak this difficult and critical language. 

Where is the innovative space to have a dialogue about these social, behavioral and environmental drivers?

I see a strong correlation between the 53.1% of respondents citing

changing and improving company culture as their top critical

challenge and the 23.2% of respondents noting that their top

critical challenge is a lack of leadership understanding and

buy-in.    - Steve Waszak

 

Community Engagement and Translational Research

     Community Engagement is the 'final mile' for Public Health practitioners. Helmets, seat belts and smoking cessation would not be commonplace without grassroots activism.  

     Currently, one of our greatest challenges is the chronic and pervasive negative impact of social determinants of health.  All medical sciences have demonstrated racial and ethnic injustice in healthcare by showing statistically significant disparities in healthcare outcomes.  Now, the nation must act.  Not by arguing that these findings are proof of genetic racial inferiority (‘nothing can be done’), but by beginning educational, safe and honest dialogues across the healthcare delivery sector. 

     Let’s talk about community engagement, participatory design of policy and system-wide enforcement of the right to a long healthy life, liberty to access quality care, and the pursuit of wellness.

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