Health Equity:
A fair opportunity to attain…full health potential and, more pragmatically, that no one should be disadvantage from achieving this potential, if it can be avoided. ⁵

Health Disparities:
Health Disparities is an umbrella term that highlights the gap disparity of health status and access to health prevalent between groups in the population. Specifically the term includes disparities in health and disparities in health care and though the terms are often used interchangeably, the terms encompass distinct concepts:

Disparities in Health: differences between two or more population groups in health outcomes and in the prevalence, incidence, or burden or disease, disability, injury, or death.

Disparities in Health Care: differences between two or more population groups in health care access, coverage, and quality of care, including differences in preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services. ²

Why are there health disparities?
A review of the literature suggests that there is a multitude of factors that are associated with these disparities. However, scientists are unsure of the extent and how each of the factors are related to the health disparities experienced by minorities. Some of these factors include but not limited to: ^{2, 3, 6}
• Racism
• Poverty
• Location of Doctors
• Access to Health Care
• Unsafe Neighborhoods

Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) in health:
Community Based Participatory Research in health is a “collaborative approach to research that equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each brings. CBPR begins with a research topic of importance to the community with the aim of combining knowledge and action for social change to improve community health and eliminate health disparities.” ⁷

Key elements of CBPR:

• CBPR builds on strengths and resources within the community.
• CBPR fosters co-learning and capacity building among all partners.
• CBPR focuses on the local relevance of public health problems and on ecological perspectives that attend to the multiple determinants of health.
• CBPR involves a long-term process and commitment to sustainability.⁴

Click here to see more on CBPR!

Community Health Worker (CHW):
A frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the CHW to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and culture competence of service delivery. A CHW also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy.¹

Common terms used from Community Health Workers:

• Lay Health Worker
• Lay Health Advisor
• Community Health Advisor
• Promotor(a) de Salud
• Community Health Representative

Click here to see more on CHWs!

Endnotes

¹ APHA CHW SPIG, 2006

² Families USA, Making Public Programs Work for Communities of Color: An action kit for community leaders, January 2006, http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/tools-for-advocates/kits/minority-health-tool-kit.html

³ Health Policy Institute of Ohio, The. (2004). Understanding Health Disparities. Columbus, OH: Author.

⁴ Israel, Barbara A., et al. Methods in Community-Based Participatory Research for Health. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

⁵ M. Whitehead. The concepts an principles of equity ad health; Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional office for Europe, 1990 (EUR/ICP/RPD 414)

⁶ Unnatural Causes: Action Toolkit, California Newsreel, 2007

⁷ W. K. Kellogg Foundation (2001). Community Health Scholars Program. In M. Minkler & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community-Based Participatory Research for Health (p. 4). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass