Recommendations & Lessons Learned from a State-Level Public Health Equity Initiative

Background: Considerable federal, state and local resources have been committed to eliminating health disparities, including numerous interventions to reduce disparities. Although several of these efforts have outlined the roles and functions of the public health system, the approaches have tended to lack clarity in distinguishing state health departments’ roles from those of local and federal public health. In addition, few efforts have identified specific strategies that state departments should use to address health disparities in day-to-day responsibilities.

Methods: The Practices to Reduce Infant Mortality through Equity (PRIME) project was an initiative from 2010-2014 focusing on the unique needs of a state health department in addressing health disparities. PRIME integrated workshops that focused on raising awareness of the relationship between racism, discrimination, and health disparities. The PRIME project carried out an organizational assessment, exposed staff to existing equity workshops, and piloted and refined two health equity learning labs.

Results: The PRIME project developed the PRIME Guide for Public Health Professionals as an informational resource that health professionals may use for enhancing their own organizations’ efforts to promote equity. Summaries of outcome evaluations of the organizational assessments and trainings (6 workshops/530 participants) are also included. The potential benefit of this project includes an organizational cultural shift to address racial disparities in maternal and child health.

Conclusions: The PRIME Guide for Public Health Professionals is a resource for health professionals who are interested in learning more about these capacity-building efforts for transforming public health systems through equity education and action at the state-level.