Build a Health Equity Movement

Build a Health Equity Movement

How Can We Build a Health Equity Movement?

Join with others in public health to build a health equity movement (Read actions you can take below)

Nationwide, health departments are taking risks to better integrate health equity, and there is value in aligning with each other to learn from successes and challenges. Referring to colleagues’ work and citing concrete examples can help validate equity work and build capacity.

Normalizing and operationalizing health equity work can also help mitigate the risk inherent in engaging in upstream policy work, sharing decision making with communities, and talking about power and oppression. Establishing intentional alliances and networks with others engaged in advancing justice and equity also solidifies a position that reflects progressive health equity practice within local health departments.

We must develop a common voice in the public health community that stands for specific values, principles, strategies, and tactics. This voice and our collective actions will help us harness the power in public health to make positive change.

Actions to Advance Equity Using This Practice

Your leadership, staff, and department can take the following actions to build a health equity movement:

  • Collaborate with local, regional, state, and national partners from public health and social justice communities to advance health equity, and to help solidify a movement for progressive health equity practice
  • Promote the work of other health departments to make the case for investing in health equity work
  • Work with community organizers to train health department staff on the principles and practices of community organizing
  • Work with community organizers to include a message of health equity in their organizing efforts
  • Support increasing the voice and influence of communities impacted by health inequities in policy change
  • Hold provider networks and other public health system partners accountable for advancing health equity
  • Listen and learn from broader social movements to better understand their issues, processes, and narratives, and how they build power and motivate their base
Last Updated: June 28, 2017