We know that equal access to care and resources is not the same as health equity. And while the image below has always caught my eye and served as a nice visual to understand this, recent discussions around justice have made me look a little deeper. How does justice fit into the health equity equation?
 

Equality, equity and justice

Let’s think about it this way…

• If equality means everyone gets the same resources and care without regard to social determinants of health…
• And equity means providing accommodations to break down barriers and essentially even the playing field…
• Then justice means we eliminate those barriers.

Here’s a new visual to demonstrate this:
 

Striving for health justice

A one size fits all approach to healthcare will never be effective. While completely removing obstacles is a lofty goal, there are steps that can be taken.

1. Ensure honest, effective, nonjudgmental and culturally responsive communication with all patients (Ward, 2023).
2. Develop the capacity to reach a broad range of patients (Ward, 2023).
3. Consider and employ these 10 The Principles of Trustworthiness to engage and partner with your community (AAMC, 2023)
4. Recognize, engage, respect and empower communities that have been disenfranchised by racism, poverty, and other forms of inequality (Wiley et al., 2022).

Final thought: Prioritize communication

We need to do a better job at identifying barriers so we can remove them and provide accessible and appropriate care. It starts with working together as a team with our colleagues and communities. Communication is the foundation of establishing trust and it’s not always about what you say. Pay attention to how you say it, who you say it to, and what others say to you. Listen to their words, their body language, and also what is not being said.

 

References:
Association of American Medical Colleges. The Principles of Trustworthiness. AAMC Center for Health Justice. (2023). https://www.aamchealthjustice.org/our-work/trustworthiness/trustworthiness-toolkit

Ward, M. (2023, May 31). Health Justice As a Tool to Fight Existing and Future Pandemics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Conversations in Equity. https://blogs.cdc.gov/healthequity/2023/05/31/health-justice-as-a-tool-to-fight-existing-and-future-pandemics/

Wiley, L. F., Yearby, R., Clark, B. R., & Mohapatra, S. (2022). INTRODUCTION: What is Health Justice?. The Journal of law, medicine & ethics : a journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 50(4), 636–640.
https://doi.org/10.1017/jme.2023.2