2022 Equity Challenge Day 7: Community Health: Our Collective Health and Well-Being is Bound Together
Your ZIP code shouldn’t predict how long you live, but it does.
President and CEO of The California EndowmentThis week we will focus on health disparities and how systems of oppression create and maintain inequitable health outcomes for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) populations. We begin with a focus on understanding social determinants of health and community health.
Community health is the collective well-being of community members within a specific geographic location, according to the Tulane School of Public Health.
When our community health institutions and physical environments result in poor health outcomes for specific portions of the population, as a society, we are not healthy. The root behind many health inequities is social determinants of health (SDOH). SDOH are various social, economic, cultural and environmental conditions that influence population health.
Too often SDOH stratify and create divides among different racial and ethnic groups, income levels and social positions. This can lead to favorable conditions for some populations and less favorable conditions for others. For example, a low-income community might have less collective political power and financial capital to counter a media campaign by an oil and gas company looking to place a refinery adjacent to their neighborhood. The environmental effects of the oil refinery may then have a disproportionately negative effect on the health of members from that low-income community.
Community health acknowledges the continued harm and lack of quality care due to systematic inequity and racism that has created health and healthcare disparities. Community health is more localized and specific to a particular community’s needs. Community health solutions are centered on working with communities to maintain health and provide equitable access and resources to holistic care.
Throughout this week, we will dive deeper into specific health inequities and learn more about what we can do to push toward a healthy community, physically, mentally and emotionally, for all Michigan residents.
TODAY’S CHALLENGE
Read
- Read the Detroit Community Health Assessment (15 minutes).
- Check out this blog from Tulane University on the importance of community health (8 minutes).
- Browse the Michigan Department of Community Health for more information about health inequities in our communities (5-20 minutes).
Watch
- Dr. Robert Ross explains how structural racism and inequity are the foundation of social determinants of health (4 minutes).
- Watch this video to learn more about racial health disparities and the threat to community health (6 minutes).
Engage
- Review the 2021 Equity Challenge on Understanding Inequity Through Data for more resources on United Way’s ALICE Framework.
- Take action in your community using these tips from the American Public Health Association.
Reflect And Share
- What stood out to you in today’s challenge? What is something you learned today?
- How have social determinants of health impacted your own quality of life or care?
- If you were to dream and envision a healthy community with community health support, what would it look like? How would community health benefit the neighborhood?
TALK TO YOUR SOCIAL CIRCLE.
Start the conversation. Send the tweet. Share your story. Make the Facebook post. Sharing what you learn and experience with your family, friends, and co-workers is the first step toward allyship.
