Accelerated implementation of equity approaches in a public health ecosystem.

We laid the groundwork for continuous equity improvements through system-wide training and coaching activities with the goal of increasing understanding of how to operationalize health equity practices among Houston’s large public health workforce and key partners. The in-person Embedding Equity training series offered interactive content, discussion, and independent study resources for over 1,000 Houston Health Department (HHD) staff and community partners.

Our efforts aimed to increase understanding and application of health equity and racial justice through nine core elements to embed intentional equity practices into and across the Department’s many functions and programs. In response to training participant requests, we debuted our Deeper Dive Series—virtual webinars that highlighted and contextualized topics like environmental justice, the social justice roots of public health, and data equity practices.

This capacity building effort catalyzed thinking beyond a single agency lens and approach to a public health ecosystems approach. As a result of the trainings, HHD staff have been able to identify opportunities for improvement such as enhancing community engagement in environmental justice-related programs out of the HHD Bureau of Community and Children’s Environmental Health program, as well as internal pilots and tool development that has durable usefulness for HHD and other public agencies.

We presented this Embedding Equity model at the American Public Health Association’s 2023 annual meeting in Atlanta.

Funders: Houston Health Department and Houston Health Foundation.

Image by Prevention Institute.