Understand and Identify Root Causes of Inequities

Equity

Equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to access what they need to thrive. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including: powerlessness and lack of access to  well-paying jobs, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care (Braveman et al., 2017).

Equality

The goal of equality is to make sure that everyone has access to the same things to be healthy.

Health Disparities

Health disparities are potentially concerning differences in health, particularly for groups at underlying or social disadvantage (e.g., race, ethnicity, or class). Disparities describe the problem or differences in health but not how those differences occurred (Braveman et al., 2017).

Health Inequities

A health inequity is a health disparity that is not only unfair but may also reflect injustice. To address health inequities, communities must remove obstacles to good health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including: powerlessness and lack of access to well-paying jobs, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care (Braveman et al., 2017).

Root Causes

Root Causes are the underlying reasons that create the differences seen in health outcomes. They are the conditions in a community that determine whether people have access to the opportunities and resources they need to thrive.

For example, the root cause of unequal allocation of power and resources creates unequal social, economic, and environmental conditions. Those conditions then lead to poorer health outcomes (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017).