This report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine describes the causes and solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome. Health equity is the state in which everyone has the chance to attain their full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or any other defined circumstance. Health equity is inextricably linked with opportunity.
Health disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual’s health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways.
The report is accompanied by a summary of highlights, a compilation of its recommendations, and a social media toolkit.
Ignatius Bau 