Partnered with CDC to develop a toolkit of Health Equity Indicators.

We worked with the Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a health equity indicators toolkit for health departments, city government agencies, and other organizations working to advance and measure progress on health equity. The toolkit emphasizes the structural determinants of health, including racism, as root causes of inequities that impact outcomes in communities, including in neighborhoods and healthcare settings. We led the preliminary development of the conceptual model, engaged subject matter experts and local practitioners to incorporate their feedback and expertise, and drafted the toolkit structure and language. CDC then conducted field testing on specific indicators before finalizing and publishing the toolkit in September of 2023. The toolkit can be used to embed equity indicators and methodology into all aspects of policy and systems change, including strategy development, planning, spatial analysis, site selection, implementation of programs, and evaluation. It also represents a shift in how CDC communicates about the importance of structural factors in its measurement and evaluation activities.

Funder: Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with support from Cooperative Agreements No. 6 NU38OT000305-02-01 and 6 NU38OT000305-03-01.

Image by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).