Proactive Strategies to Address Health Equity and Disparities: Recommendations from a Bi-National Symposium

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Social Determinants of Health

Background:

• Persistent health inequities exist in Canada and the United States.
• Social characteristics, such as postal code, are stronger predictors of health than genetics.
• Overlapping social determinants of health increase community vulnerability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address health inequities at policy and delivery levels within integrated primary care.
• To summarize insights and solutions from a binational symposium on transforming primary care.

Main Methods:

• A binational Canada-US symposium was convened in March 2017.
• The symposium involved 150 primary care leaders, including clinicians, researchers, patients, and policymakers.
• This commentary synthesizes the key insights and proposed solutions from the session.

Main Results:

• Solutions involve proactive interventions to reduce disparities.
• Key strategies include integrating social factors into risk adjustment, diversifying healthcare providers, promoting cultural humility, and supporting community-oriented primary care.
• A shift from retrospective to proactive measures, equality to equity, needs-based to strength-based approaches, and individual to population focus is proposed.

Conclusions:

• Addressing health inequities requires structural changes in healthcare policy and delivery.
• Proactive, equity-focused strategies are essential for improving population health outcomes.
• Integrating social determinants and community-based approaches is crucial for reducing health disparities.