Where We Landed
After months of research, reflection, and consultation with some of the nation’s leaders in health disparities and health equity research and policy, we landed on the following definition:
Health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care.
And because we wanted to ensure accountability, we added the following:
For the purposes of measurement, health equity means reducing and ultimately eliminating disparities in health and its determinants that adversely affect excluded or marginalized groups.
A more detailed explanation of the rationale behind this definition is provided in the RWJF report, which also outlines key steps toward achieving health equity, presents principles to guide efforts and definitions of terms that often arise in discussions of health equity, and offers examples of programs and policies that are advancing health equity.