Differences Explained: Health Equity and Health Equality, including Definitions, Examples, and Further Insights
In the realm of healthcare, achieving health equity is paramount. Unlike health equality, which treats everyone the same regardless of their individual circumstances, health equity recognizes and addresses the varying needs of underserved populations and marginalized groups to achieve fair health outcomes for all.
Health equity takes into account different cultures, access to resources, and socioeconomic status. It considers the impact of social determinants of health, such as access to a healthy diet, stress, and trauma. These factors can significantly influence health outcomes, and addressing them is crucial for achieving health equity.
For instance, Black people often face health disparities, with Black men being more likely than white men to die of prostate cancer. This disparity is preventable due to issues like access to quality care, the type of care a person receives, and social inequality that undermines health. To counteract this, a health equity approach includes lobbying for funding for programs to ensure access to screenings, reaching out to Black communities to overcome barriers, and identifying cultural barriers to seeking or getting treatment.
Similarly, people assigned female at birth often struggle to get accurate diagnoses for reproductive and female-specific health problems, such as endometriosis. A health equity approach for reproductive health disparities includes implicit bias training, education about how doctors tend to disbelieve females' perceptions of pain, and public health campaigns targeting underdiagnosed health issues.
Transgender individuals frequently report discrimination and poor quality care. Health equity encourages policymakers to think about the myriad ways social environments affect health. An equity-minded medical professional must consider how social determinants of health affect health outcomes and may work with patients to strategize ways to overcome challenges, such as limited access to healthy food.
Poverty can also affect health by reducing access to nutritious food, increasing stress and trauma, and forcing people to live in unsafe communities. A doctor who is aware of these factors may advocate for policies to address these issues, in addition to working with patients to find solutions at the individual level.
The social-ecological model of health suggests that each layer of connection can influence health outcomes. This model emphasizes the importance of addressing systemic and structural factors that disadvantage certain groups to achieve health equity.
Eliminating racist beliefs and encouraging medical professionals to assess people equally might make the pain of Black people more visible and help counteract some health disparities. This approach is essential for achieving universal health coverage and the broader Sustainable Development Goals related to health.
In conclusion, health equity is a crucial step towards achieving fair health outcomes for all, particularly underserved populations and marginalized groups. It involves tailored interventions that respond to different needs, addressing the root causes of poor health and unequal access to care. By striving for health equity, we can work towards a future where everyone has an equal opportunity to be as healthy as possible.
- The social determinants of health, such as access to a healthy diet and stress levels, are crucial factors in achieving health equity, particularly for marginalized groups like Black people and transgender individuals, who often face health disparities.
- To eradicate health disparities, policies and legislation need to be implemented that ensure equal access to quality care and resources for all, such as funding programs for screenings and public health campaigns targeting underdiagnosed health issues.
- Achieving health equity requires an equity-minded approach, where medical professionals consider the myriad ways social environments affect health and work with patients to overcome challenges, such as limited access to healthy food and discrimination.
- Eliminating racist beliefs and promoting equal treatment in healthcare can help counteract health disparities and move towards a future where everyone has an equal opportunity for health and wellness, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
