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HEALTH EQUITY GUIDE REVIEW

Cynthia Stone, DrPH, RN; Danielle Boberschmidt

46

Under Build Organizational Capacity
2.	 	Strategic	practice	change	of	internal	practices	

and	processes	to	align	internal	processes	to	
advance	equity.

3.	 Prioritize	upstream	policy	change	to	improve	
the	social	determinants	of	health.

4.	 Build	awareness	of	the	connection	between	the	
social	determinants	and	health	with	different	
audiences,	including	health	department	staff,	
healthcare	institutions,	government	agencies,	
elected	officials	and	community	stakeholders.

5.	 Allocate	resources	to	advance	equity	for	health	
equity	staff	positions	and	to	track	and	align	
resources.

Under Work Across Government to Advance Health 
Equity

6.	 Build	government	alliances	with	other	gov-
ernment	agencies	to	advance	equity	through	
training.

7.	 Develop	a	shared	analysis	with	other	agencies	
about	government’s	role	in	creating	health	eq-
uity.

8.	 Broaden	the	administrative	and	regulatory	
scope	of	public	health	and	other	agency	practic-
es	to	advance	health	equity.

Under Foster Community Partnerships to Advance 

Human	Impact	Partners	(HIP)	has	led	the	
development	of	a	partnership	that	produced	the	
Health	Equity	Guide	(HIPP-a	2017).	The	guide	
includes	five	key	organizing	concepts	that	include	the	
following:

•	 Mobilize	data,	research,	and	evaluation
•	 Building	internal	infrastructure	to	advance	

health	equity
•	 Work	across	government	to	advance	health	

equity
•	 Foster	community	partnerships	to	advance	

health	equity
•	 Champion	transformative	change	to	advance	

health	equity

Under	the	five	main	concepts	there	are	15	
strategic	practices	and	key	actions	that	local	health	
departments	can	use	to	advance	health	equity	
within	their	organizations	and	with	their	community	
partners	(HIP,	2017).	The	fifteen	strategies	include:

Under Mobilize data research, and evaluation:
1.	 Mobilize	data,	research,	and	evaluation	to	make	

the	case	for,	assess,	and	inform	interventions	
for	health	equity.



Health Equity Guide Review Stone; Boberschmidt

47

Health Equity
9.	 Share	power	with	communities	by	building	stra-

tegic	community	relationships,	sharing	power	
and	decision	making,	and	sparking	meaningful	
participation.

10.	 Build	community	alliances	with	community	
partners	to	protect	against	risk	and	build	com-
munity	power.

11.	 Engage	in	movements	such	as	social	justice	
campaigns	and	movements	to	advance	equity	
by	providing	data	and	conducting	research,	as	
well	as	advocating	in	support	of	community	
partners’	interests.

Under Champion Transformative Change to Advance 
Health Equity

12.	 Confront	the	root	causes	of	power	imbalances	
and	the	racial	and	other	forms	of	oppression	
used	to	maintain	those	imbalances.

13.	 Develop	leadership	and	support	innovation	
and	reward	strategic	risk	taking	to	advance	eq-
uity.

14.	 Change	the	conversation	about	what	creates	
health	equity	within	public	health,	across	gov-
ernment,	and	in	communities.

15.	 Build	a	health	equity	movement	by	joining	
with	others	in	public	health	to	build	a	health	
equity	movement	to	advance	justice	and	equity	
(Human	Impact	Partners-a,	2017).

The	Health	Equity	Guide	cautions	that	the	guide	is	not	
advocating	to	be	a	step	by	step	guide,	but	for	organi-
zations	to	use	the	provided	suggestions	to	model	their	
own	organizational	path	to	improving	health	equity.	
 
The	“Ways	to	Get	Started	Guide”	provides	additional	
details.	For	example,	in	the	Actions	to	Build	Internal	
Infrastructure	to	Advance	Health	Equity	the	sugges-
tions	include:	Creating	a	team;	developing	a	plan;	
documenting	inequities;	leveraging	existing	staffing;	
leverage	existing	funding;	using	equity	tools,	survey-
ing	your	staff,	organizing	a	training	and	changing	your	
forms		(HealthEquityGuide,	2017	).	One	resource	rec-

ommended	to	use	for	this	step	is	the	Bay	Area	Region-
al	Health	Inequities	Initiative	(BARHII)	Organizational	
Self-	Assessment	Toolkit	(2010).	
 
The	HealthEquityGuide.org	website	provides	informa-
tion	on	the	strategic	practices,	and	provides	over	25	
case	studies	from	local	health	departments	(HIPP-b,	
2017).	The	website	also	has	over	150	interactive	re-
sources	you	can	search	by	key	concepts	(HIPP-c).	The	
website	also	provides	a	link	to	recordings	from	a	four	
part	webinar	series	that	reviewed	the	strategic	prac-
tices	and	presented	related	case	study	examples.	The	
partners	on	the	webinar	series	included	the	Govern-
ment	Alliance	on	Race	and	Equity,	the	National	Collab-
orative	for	Health	Equity,	and	the	National	Association	
of	County	and	City	Health	Officers’	Health	Equity	and	
Social	Justice	Committee	(HIP,	2017)
 
The	HealthEquityGuide	is	a	useful	tool	for	health	
impact	assessment	(HIA)	practitioners	so	they	can	
implement	and	advocate	with	local	health	depart-
ment	partners.	Health	equity	is	a	key	value	of	HIAs	
and	the	Human	Impact	Partners	Project	states	that	
“used	collectively,	these	strategic	practices	can	help	
local	health	departments	systematically	address	
power	imbalances,	racism,	and	other	forms	of	op-
pression	which	are	at	the	root	of	health	inequities”	
(HealthEquityGuide.org:	A	Human	Impact	Partners	
Project-a,	2017,	p.#	4).



Health Equity Guide Review Stone; Boberschmidt

48

References

Bay	Area	Regional	Health	Inequities	Initiative.	(2010).	Organizational	Self-Assessment	Toolkit.	Available	from:	http://
barhii.org/download/toolkit/self_assessment_toolkit.pdf

Human	Impact	Partners.	(2017).	Advancing	Health	Equity	in	Local	Health	Departments:	4-Part	Webinar	Series.	Available	
from:	https://humanimpact.org/hipprojects/hegwebinars2017/

Human	Impact	Partners	Project-a.	(2017).	Strategic	Practices	and	Actions	to	Advance	Health	Equity	in	Local	Health	
Departments.	HealthEquityGuide.org.	Available	from:	https://healthequityguide.org/

	Human	Impact	Partners	Project-b.	(2017).	Health	Equity	Guide	Case	Studies.	Available	from:	https://healthequityguide.
org/case-studies/

Human	Impact	Partners	Project-c	(2017).	Health	Equity	Guide	Resources.	Available	from:	https://healthequityguide.org/
resources/

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Cynthia Stone, DrPH, RN
Department of  Health Policy and Management, Richard M. Fairbanks School of  Public Health
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
1050 Wishard Blvd.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317.278.0761
cylstone@iu.edu

CHIA Staff:

Editor-in-Chief  
Cynthia Stone, DrPH, RN, Professor, Richard M. Fairbanks School of  Public Health, Indiana University-Purdue 
University Indianapolis

Journal Manager 
Angela Evertsen, BA, Richard M. Fairbanks School of  Public Health, Indiana University-Purdue University 
Indianapolis

Chronicles of  Health Impact Assessment Vol. 3 Issue 1 (2018) DOI: 10.18060/21777
© 2018 Author(s): Stone, C.; Boberschmidt, D.
       This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License


