Health Equity and Social Justice

Policy Statements | Staff Contacts

NACCHO's Health Equity and Social Justice initiatives explore why certain populations bear a disproportionate burden of disease and mortality and what health departments can do to better address the causes of these inequities. The goal of NACCHO's Health Equity and Social Justice initiatives is to advance the capacity of local health departments (LHDs) to tackle the root causes of health inequities through public health practice and their organizational structure. NACCHO's Health Equity and Social Justice initiatives include:

The LHD National Coalition for Health Equity, a network to build solidarity and share experiences among LHDs, as well as develop public policy agendas, identify the need for training, and increase public awareness;
The Health Equity Campaign, which brings together health departments and others using the PBS documentary film series Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making us Sick? in their jurisdictions to host community dialogues about health equity;
The Health Equity and Social Justice Toolkit, a searchable database of Health Equity tools, publications, and resources, available in NACCHO's Toolbox; and
Publications tailored to local health departments, including the anthology Tackling Health Inequities through Public Health Practice: Theory to Action (revised and expanded version forthcoming, Oxford University Press, February 2010) and NACCHO's Guidelines For Achieving Health Equity in Public Health Practice.

Tackling Health Inequities through Public Health Practice: Theory to Action

Oxford University Press released Tackling Health Inequities through Public Health Practice: Theory to Action" in February 2010. Edited by NACCHO Senior Analyst Richard Hofrichter and the Director of the San Francisco Department of Health's division of Occupation and Environmental Health Rajiv Bhatia, this text raises questions and provides a starting point for health practitioners ready to reorient public health practice to address the fundamental causes of health inequities. This reorientation involves restructuring the organization, culture and daily work of public health.

Tackling Health Inequities is meant to inspire readers to imagine or envision public health practice and their role in ways that question contemporary thinking and assumptions, as emerging trends, social conditions, and policies generate increasing inequities in health.

Download the table of contents (PDF) by clicking here. More »

NACCHO's Health Equity Campaign

Unnatural Causes Receives Major Broadcast Journalism Award

In January 2009, Unnatural Causes received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award for excellence in broadcast journalism. The duPont-Columbia Awards are considered the most prestigious in broadcast journalism, the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes. More »

This series, aired on PBS and available on DVD, explores how inequalities in housing, health, jobs, and education, combined with a lack of power and control over one's life, can result in poor health and even death. Preview a clip of this documentary series on the extent of America's health inequities or learn more about NACCHO's Health Equity Campaign.

Announcing a New Toolkit in NACCHO's Toolbox

Health Equity and Social Justice Toolkit

Announcing the Health Equity and Social Justice Toolkit, a searchable database of resources to help local health departments explore and tackle the root causes of inequity in the distribution of disease, illness, and death. It covers subjects ranging from social justice theory to public health practice, and includes journal articles, video clips, reports, PowerPoint presentations, book references, action guides, Web sites, and more. More »