Being intentional about equity
In this issue of Findings, I’m excited to feature several stories about Michigan Public Health community members working to advance health equity. Our school’s mission is to “create a healthier, more equitable world for all.” We’re intentional about including “equity” in our mission because this is a critical goal of our work. If we only achieve health for some, our work is not complete. As an academic public health institution, it’s our responsibility to be leaders in this space—through our practice work, research and our education efforts. Every individual should have an opportunity to improve their quality of life and emotional well-being.
In order to improve population health, we need to understand who is most affected by different adverse health events so we can effectively partner with communities to reduce those burdens. We know that different communities have varying health risks and outcomes, and this is due to a variety of factors. Sometimes, it’s biological, but many times, it’s not. It’s often due to socioeconomic factors. In public health, it’s our responsibility to understand how these factors impact the well-being of different communities in different ways and work to address them. As part of our commitment, “Building Health Equity” is one of the key impact areas within our school’s Public Health IDEAS research initiative (IDEAS stands for Interdisciplinary, Discovery, Engagement + Actions for Society). In addition, one of our departments was recently renamed Health Behavior & Health Equity, reflecting the department’s commitment to advancing equity in its training, service and research.
Our ability to train a diverse public health workforce is also critical to our efforts to dismantle health inequities. At the heart of public health is a commitment to serve people and communities. To do that most effectively, we must be sure that we’re training people who reflect all of the communities we serve. Moreover, given the complexity of major public health issues, we must train all students to understand health inequities and disparities and to be able to work across differences. As one key step, we recently redesigned the core classes in our MPH program and worked to infuse health equity and anti-racist practices throughout the entire core curriculum.
The stories featured in this issue of Findings are just a snapshot of some of our work to advance health equity. After you read this issue, I encourage you to explore more on our website. I’m proud that so many Michigan Public Health community members are leaders in the health equity space. I hope you’ll join us in this important work.
— Dean F. DuBois Bowman