Prioritizing Social Determinants to Promote Health Equity: How the Use of “Non-Health” Data is Shifting a Local Public Health Paradigm

Many public health authorities, including the WHO, have unequivocally stated that the social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities. An already robust and still growing body of research suggests that, in order to improve long-term population level health and eliminate health inequities, a new paradigm of public health thought and practice is necessary. While the thought aspect has indeed been shifting rapidly, the practice aspect is in many ways lagging behind, with many local health departments ill equipped/prepared to champion a true health equity movement—one that shifts epidemiologic focus from the distribution of illness exclusively, and prioritizes understanding the distribution of a robust array underlying determinants.

This presentation will describe how one urban local health department has enhanced its efforts to promote health equity by incorporating non-traditional data sources into standard community assessment and epidemiologic practices, allowing for the development of indicators that speak to the underlying conditions that shape opportunities for health—the social determinants. These indicators cover a range of factors with broader policy implications for areas such as housing and land use/zoning. Additionally, this presentation will discuss how these new data have been and will be used for future systems, policy, and community-based efforts address health inequities in the city.