How Does Healthy People Define Health Equity and Health Disparities?
By providing a common definition for health equity and health disparities, people, groups, and communities across the country can better coordinate their resources and efforts and find opportunities for cooperation.
Healthy People 2030 defines health equity as “the attainment of the highest level of health for all people,” which is similar to Healthy People 2020’s definition. In order to achieve health equity, society must value each person equally and make concentrated, continuing efforts to remove historical injustices, preventable inequalities, and disparities in health and healthcare.
A health disparity is “a specific type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage,” according to Healthy People 2030. Groups of people who have systematically faced more barriers to their health due to their race or ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, mental health, physical or cognitive disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, geography, or other traits historically associated with exclusion or discrimination are negatively impacted by health disparities.
How Does Healthy People 2030 Address Health Disparities?
Measuring health disparities is essential to advancing health equity. That’s why Healthy People 2030 monitors differences across population groups as it tracks progress toward meeting objectives. Healthy People data tools summarize and display these health disparities to help identify priority populations.
Healthy People 2030 also features evidence-based resources focused on strategies that are proven to improve health. These resources include interventions to address public health issues among specific population groups and improve the health of all people.
In addition, Healthy People 2030 collects Healthy People in Action stories that highlight how states, communities, and organizations address health disparities, advance health equity, and improve health by:
- Using evidence-based interventions and strategies
- Evaluating interventions
- Forming multisector collaborations