Exploring the Ecosystem of Health Equity Measures: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief

Exploring the Ecosystem of Health Equity Measures: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief

Public health

Kristen Walker

National Academies Roundtable on Population Health Improvement

National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine

2024

National Academies Press

Briefing

English

Open Access

On June 21, 2023, the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement and the Roundtable for the Promotion of Health Equity held a workshop on the Ecosystem of Health Equity Measures in Oakland, California. The co-chair of the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement, Ana Diez Roux of Drexel University, made opening remarks reflecting on the roundtable’s past exploration of measures (or metrics1) of health disparity and health equity that considered how these measures can be used to enhance understanding and awareness, and to promote and support action. She noted that measures reflect values, and they can be used to both illuminate and mask reality, thus warranting discussion and debate. Planning committee chair Sheri Johnson of the University of Wisconsin, Madison gave an overview of the workshop objectives and the agenda. The evolving ecosystem of health equity measures, she stated, includes scientists, practitioners, and people with “firsthand knowledge of systems and structures that produce inequity.” She added that collaboration and alignment are needed to decide what new measures are needed, what measures should be retired, and what measures matter. Though not offering a comprehensive examination of the ecosystem of measures, the workshop was intended to: Critique concepts, language, narratives, and framing of measurement of health equity; Examine the nature and purpose of metrics for transformational change; Discuss the state of the science and the social and political implications of designing data collection and methods; and Explore measures at different scales and in different domains. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Exploring the Ecosystem of Health Equity Measures: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27914.