Health Equity Strategic Mapping for State Public Health Support

Health equity continues to be an important goal in health and health-related reform efforts in the United States. Disparities remain between populations within this country and major steps are being taken by the states and territories to address this. In an effort to support the ongoing efforts of each state and territory's work toward the goal of health equity, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) convened a meeting of major health equity and primary care experts to map a strategy over a day and half in early February.

The result of this session is a strategic map that builds out the cross-cutting priority of ASTHO into an instrument that can:

• Drive all of ASTHO's work in health equity • Ensure alignment with key partners, e.g., the OMH, NACHC, etc…. • Provide guidance for staff and ASTHO members

The mapping meeting included a substantive dialogue and sharing of ideas between top subject matter authorities, examined the current role of the states and territories in addressing health equity, and created a strategic plan that could be implemented immediately toward support of state and territorial health equity work.

This presentation will focus on key themes and steps in the health equity strategic mapping and will include a breakdown of the strategic map itself. It will include a naming of priorities and objectives, how it contributes to the state and territorial health agencies' work in health equity, and how ASTHO and its partners work together strategically to address the central challenge of health equity in all their public health endeavors. The session is a unique examination of the practical application of strategic mapping and implementation principles to traditional public health agencies addressing health equity.