By Healthcare Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Health equity refers to ensuring all patients receive care, regardless of their race, gender, ability, or where they live. Social determinants of health—which are the environmental, nonclinical factors that play a role in patient health and include things like access to safe housing, education level, financial security, and exposure to racism, violence, and discrimination—play a huge role in determining health equity.
How has health equity been impacted by the 2024 presidential election?
Since Jan. 20, President Donald Trump has passed executive orders to end any diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI)-related initiatives and remove DEI terminology from grants and other federal documents. Research shows health equity initiatives have impacted healthcare in multiple ways, like allowing providers to better understand patient needs, showing the impacts of a drug in clinical trials on more demographic groups, reducing maternal death rates among Black patients, and increasing access to gender-affirming care like hormone therapies and surgeries.
How does health equity help a larger patient population?
“People think that DEI is just for Black and Latino folks, but everyone benefits from DEI, including white males,” such as people with disabilities and veterans, Pamela Abner, VP and chief diversity operations officer at Mount Sinai, who runs several health equity initiatives at the New York health system, told Healthcare Brew.
About Health equity
How DEI rollbacks are affecting healthcare
What is gender-affirming care, and what does it entail for minors?
How a Black woman-focused health center is reducing health disparities in Cleveland
What it’s like to run a community health center
