Portrait of Promise: California's Statewide Plan to Promote Health and Mental Health Equity

The State Department of Public Health established the Office of Health Equity, via passage of Assembly Bill 1467, for the purposes of aligning state resources, decision-making, and programs to accomplish all of the following:

• o   Achieve the highest level of health and mental health for all people, with
  special attention focused on those who have experienced socioeconomic disadvantage and historical injustice
• o   Work collaboratively with the Health in All Policies (HiAP) Task Force
• o   Advise and assist other state departments in their mission to increase access to, and the quality of, culturally and linguistically competent health and mental health care and services
• o   Improve the health status of all populations and places, with a priority on eliminating health and mental health disparities and inequities.

This presentation provides insights into the development of the initial activities and products of OHE, with emphasis on the California Statewide Plan to Promote Health and Mental Health Equity (“Plan”). The Plan is the first biennial report of the OHE that provides the premise for understanding health and mental health disparities in the state, and a road map for how to eliminate these disparities through cross-sector action. The Plan’s five-year strategic priorities are as follows: 1) increased knowledge of the problems and the opportunities through assessment, 2) a shared understanding of the issues and opportunities through communication, and 3) empowerment of residents and their institutions to effectively act through the development of applicable infrastructure.