Oral

Three West Coast Public Health Departments are seeking to address social determinants of health to achieve health equity. A common approach is the establishment of Equity and Social Justice Initiatives (ESJI) that serve as a catalyst for change and create partnerships with public and private sectors and community members to address the pathways and structures that cause inequity. All of these efforts are utilizing the provocative PDS series Unnatural Courses: Is Inequality Making Us Sick to engage in community dialogues. This session will: (1) provide a description of each County's ESJI efforts; (2) discuss the facilitative factors taht launched the initiatives; (3) describe overall strategies and challenges encountered; (4) discuss lessons learned and recommendations for establishing, maintaining and sustaining agency and community-level change to achieve equity and social justice.

Session Objectives: Describe facilitating factors that resulted in a focus on equity and social justice by the Alameda, King and Multnomah County Public Health Departments. Discuss strategies used to promote equity and social justice and overcome challenges. Analyze and apply lessons learned for establishing and sustaining Equity and Social Justice Initiatives among the three Public Health departments.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing