Learning from others

The issue has been especially at the forefront since 2008 when the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada and the Senate Subcommittee on Population Health each published a major report on the topic. [...] Correspondingly, the RHA approach is to address three aspects of health disparities: (1) health system changes to address disparities in access and use of services; (2) partnerships, collaborations and policy advocacy with agents outside the health system to address disparities due to social determinants; and (3) exercising a leadership role in monitoring health status and disparities and keeping [...] One of CPHFRI’s goals is to “broadly inform public health systems renewal in Canada that, in turn, will contribute to improving population health and reducing health disparities.”7 SHR has a Public Health Observatory and has conducted mapping and related analyses of health disparities in the community. [...] The ultimate goals of the community health assessment are to maintain and improve the health status of the entire population, and to reduce inequities in health status between populations.14 In addition to research on populations, some RHAs have conducted analyses of local environmental factors and effects on health disparities. [...] Primary health care practices and resources Inequitable access to health services is a direct pathway to health disparities, and one that is primarily the responsibility of the health system to address.