Infusing social justice into the science of health equity: Innovative evaluative frameworks

Following a social determinants approach, several conceptual frameworks have been developed to provide direction to science and the transformation of that science into interventions that facilitate the reduction of racial and ethnic health disparities. We present two innovative evaluative frameworks to help infuse elements of social justice into the health equity process: 1) a combined health disparity framework using ethical and scientific evaluations; and 2) an integrative framework of ethical and scientific benchmarks and evaluation within a systems approach to community empowerment. The philosophical foundation for the elimination of health disparities necessitates the examination of how well science has been able to transform and translate the social determinants discourse into interventions that have made a difference in communities. As with any human experiment, this transformation requires an ethical review to ensure that science is connected with an examination of how well policies and actions at the population and community levels have been enacted as a result of research translation. We discuss a new paradigm, a new ethic for promotion of a healthier society, and a new educational model in promoting health as a systems approach that connects ethics with research endeavors in communities. This presentation describes a transforming system which combines research and ethics under a philosophical foundation of empowerment at the social, community, family and individual levels. We provide recommendations relative to the foundation from which researchers and practitioners can assess the efficacy and equity of their efforts to reduce health disparities in their communities.