Creating health equity in the southern United States: Unique perspectives and challenges

Health equity has successfully become a cornerstone of public health work across the country. However, there is a lack of geographic diversity in the national discussion on the advancement of health equity. The south has an important role and voice in the health equity movement, yet it is rarely heard in national settings. Recent work to address health disparities and work towards health equity in Texas and Mississippi shines a crucial light on the unique factors and contexts of health equity work in the south. Following the development and implementation of an equity, health disparities, and disproportionality curriculum for Community Transformation Grant recipients in Texas, and technical assistance provision in the deep south of Mississippi, we have distilled important lessons about working to advance health equity at the local level in the Deep South and Texas. What are strategies that work, what are some potential pitfalls to be aware of, and how can you ensure successful implementation of such work? Survey data, interviews, testimonials, and lived experiences will show participants the unique contexts for health equity work in the south. How can you frame equity to reach a critical mass? How can you work with communities, partners, and organizations in the south to make real and significant progress towards health equity? This session will share those key lessons among others, and start a dialogue with professionals across the country and the south about what it means to advance health equity in the southern United States.