Health Equity Committee: A Local Health Department's Effort to Address Health Inequalities

Originally presented in 2011, Riverside County Department of Public Health (RCDOPH) has made significant progress in its efforts to address health inequities among vulnerable populations including ethnic/cultural minorities, sexual minorities, and disparities based on age or disability.

Like many local health jurisdictions, RCDOPH has many grant-funded programs addressing issues among individual groups creating disjointed silos and a fragmented approach to health inequities. Unifying the departments programs and services into a coordinated approach is the objective is the Health Equity Committee. The work of the Committee broadened thinking to include factors such as predatory lending practices, land use, institutional and historic racism and homophobia, crime, stress, and other issues linked to social justice and social determinants of health. Since its inception in 2008, the Committee has remained representative of diverse disciplines, job classifications, and cultural experiences. The membership has worked on staff development, establishing agency-wide policies, committee by-laws, and objectives.

This presentation will update the attendees on committee development, internal/external efforts, early actions, administration support, process formalization, policy development, working toward organization culture change, cultural competency, and reduction of health disparities/inequities. Presenters will share the steps taken, those planned, lessons learned and successes to date. In order to successfully promote health and wellness across the livespan RCDOPH believes we must address the disparate conditions that create health inequities.