OUR MISSION
Our mission at the Center for Health Equity is to address the social and economic conditions that cause health inequities and impact the civic wellbeing of Louisville residents. Recognizing that traditional public health practices have value but cannot succeed by themselves, the Center was established to address the social and economic conditions that impact the civic wellbeing of Louisville residents causing health inequalities. The Center serves as a catalyst for collaboration between public health, communities, and organizations that work to eliminate the social and economic barriers to good health. Through policy change, evidence-based interventions, and education, the Center builds new coalitions that reshape the public health landscape to assist communities in addressing barriers to health equity.
KEY IDEAS
Health Inequalities or disparities are empirically evident differences that exist across different social groups in a society (Peter, 2000). Among all inequalities there exist a subset of disparities that are avoidable and therefore unfair or inequitable.
Health inequities are a subset of health inequalities or disparities involving circumstances that may be controlled by a policy, system, or institution so that the disparity is avoidable. These kinds of health disparities may include health and healthcare disparities. A society must use moral and ethical judgment to determine which inequalities are inequitable.
Social Justice is the fair distribution of society’s benefits, responsibilities and their consequences. It focuses on the relative position of one social group in relationship to others in society as well as on the root causes of disparities and what can be done to eliminate them.