Health equity resources by goal or activity (I want to...)

I want to...
Help staff understand equity
Communicate with elected officials about health equity
Complete an equity assessment for my organization
Work across government sectors
Assess a program or policy for equity implications
Talk about what creates health (e.g., change the narrative)
Build better community relationships
Get connected to other organizations working on health equity

Allegories on race and racism 
Camara Jones via TEDx Talks
This video uses storytelling to discuss race and racism in the United States, and to empower people to take action to reduce racism. While all of the allegories are good, we suggest using the "Gardener’s Tale" allegory first. Fast forward to 5:49 and watch through 16:06. Use these questions as a starting point for a discussion. What part of the story stands out for you? What did the story make you think about? The Gardener's Tale focuses on race, but you can broadly apply the allegory . If you think about different "pots" as different populations in your community, who is thriving and who is struggling? Why or why not? What does this mean for our work as public health professionals?
tag(s): equip staff, videos, help staff understand equity

Cliff analogy of health 
Camara Jones via Denver University
This 15-minute video illustrates how people fall off the "cliff of good health," and describes common interventions to treat and prevent illness. Dr. Jones uses a cliff to show the impact of social conditions on health--including racism, poverty, and other inequities. She calls for communities and health professionals to take action on those social conditions, in order to eliminate health disparities. Questions to consider include: Where do we spend most of our time and energy in public health? What does the Cliff Analogy of Health ask us to do as public health professionals?
tag(s): equip staff, videos, help staff understand equity

Health equity: Make it your business
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota 
This website includes five short videos explaining different aspects of health inequities.
tag(s): spread the word about what creates health, equip staff, videos, help staff understand equity, change the narrative

Spent 
Urban Ministries of Durham
Spent is a quick and easy web-based game that builds understanding about how low-wage jobs affect individuals and families. 
tag(s): equip staff, webinars/courses, help staff understand equity, change the narrative

Effective communication
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
This excerpt from a larger toolkit identifies strategies for communicating about health equity and social determinants of health. Pages 14-18 describe the importance of inclusive language, guidelines, and alternative ways to describe health equity for different audiences.
tag(s): spread the word about what creates health, guides/toolkits, communicate with elected officials

A new way to talk about the social determinants of health 
RWJF: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
This document provides new ways to talk about the social determinants of health for policymakers and other audiences. Chapter 2 includes alternate ways to talk about the social determinants of health, and a glossary of other terms to use in place of typical phrasing.
tag(s): spread the word about what creates health, guides/toolkits, communicate with elected officials

Advancing the mission: Tools for equity, diversity, and inclusion 
Annie E. Casey Foundation
This resource contains eight tools to help organizations identify opportunities to integrate equity goals into their programs and operations. The "Institutional Assessment" on pp. 31-34 includes a list of characteristics for organizations at different "places" in terms of how they approach race and ethnicity.
tag(s): show organizational commitment, guides/toolkits, case studies, assess my organization, assess a program/policy

Equity and empowerment lens – first version 
Multnomah County, OR
This guide to a series of tools can help an organization assess programs or policies for equity impacts, and implement an action plan to improve equity. An organizational readiness assessment starts on p. 23; Multnomah County took pieces of a more comprehensive assessment (BARHII's Organizational Self-Assessment for Addressing Health Inequities Toolkit) and turned it into a reflective tool to examine an organization's readiness to do equity work.
tag(s): show organizational commitment, guides/toolkits, assessments, case studies, assess my organization

A practitioner's guide for advancing health equity: Community strategies for preventing chronic disease 
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This guide helps public health professionals incorporate the goal of health equity into current public health practice. "Building Organizational Capacity to Advance Health Equity" (pp. 6-9) provides some ideas for organizations on advancing health equity, and the last page includes a list of questions for reflection on organizational capacity.
tag(s): show organizational commitment, guides/toolkits, case studies, assess my organization

Health in all policies: A guide for state and local governments
PHI: Public Health Institute
This guide describes the Health in All Policies approach to health improvement and outlines action steps for implementing this strategy.
tag(s): influence public policy, guides/toolkits, case studies, work across sectors

Advancing health equity: Key questions for assessing policy, processes, and assumptions 
Minnesota Department of Health
These key questions can help an organization consider equity in specific policies, processes, and assumptions. 
tag(s): show organizational commitment, assessments, assess a program/policy

Advancing the mission: Tools for equity, diversity, and inclusion 
Annie E. Casey Foundation
This resource contains eight tools to help organizations identify opportunities to integrate equity goals into their programs and operations. The "Racial Equity Impact Analysis" on pp. 77-80 provides five guiding questions to help determine if policies, programs, and practices are likely to close racial disparities gaps.
tag(s): show organizational commitment, guides/toolkits, case studies, assess my organization, assess a program/policy

Equity and empowerment lens [updated] 
Multnomah County, OR 
Go directly to the two-page 5 P's worksheet (PDF) to assess the equity impacts of an issue or decision.
tag(s): show organizational commitment, guides/toolkits, assessments, case studies, assess a program/policy

Equity and inclusion lens handbook 
City of Ottawa, City for All Women Initiative (CAWI)
This guide will help you apply an equity lens to a wide range of public health activities; it was developed to support Ottawa's work to embed equity into its programs and operations.
tag(s): show organizational commitment, guides/toolkits, assessments, assess a program/policy

Racial equity and social justice tool 
City of Madison, WI 
This three-page assessment tool consists of eight questions to help identify if a program, policy, service, or decision perpetuates health inequities. It can also help with strategies to prevent adverse impacts.
tag(s): show organizational commitment, assessments, case studies, assess a program/policy

Health and well-being for all: Accelerating learning about social determinants
CDC Foundation
This "meeting in a box" provides interactive materials you can use to discuss the conditions that create health, including a facilitator guide, role-playing scenarios, and an infographic map.
tag(s): spread the word about what creates health, guides/toolkits, change the narrative, build community relationships

Health equity: Make it your business
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota 
This website includes five short videos explaining different aspects of health inequities.
tag(s): spread the word about what creates health, equip staff, videos, help staff understand equity, change the narrative

Spent 
Urban Ministries of Durham
Spent is a quick and easy web-based game that can help raise awareness about how income can affect health, among other outcomes.
tag(s): equip staff, webinars/courses, help staff understand equity, change the narrative

Community engagement assessment tool 
Building the Field of Community Engagement
This tool helps organizations improve their community engagement efforts by assessing their activities on a scale from outreach to engagement.
tag(s): authentically engage with the community, assessments, build community relationships

Health and well-being for all: Accelerating learning about social determinants
CDC Foundation
This "meeting in a box" provides interactive materials you can use to discuss the factors that affect health, and for conversations about how to take action through teamwork and cross-sector collaboration. 
tag(s): spread the word about what creates health, guides/toolkits, what creates health, build community relationships

There are a number of organizations around the U.S. working toward health equity. If you're not sure where to start, MDH staff suggest signing up for email newsletters from the following organizations:

• Human Impact Partners (subscribe: Scroll down to "subscribe to our updates")
• Dialogue4Health (subscribe to the mailing list by scrolling down)
• Race Forward (subscribe: Subscribe) / Colorlines (subscribe: Colorlines Direct)
• Fakequity (subscribe: Scroll down to "follow blog via email" in the right-hand margin