Tackling health inequities through public health practice: Theory to Action
This book is edited by Richard Hoficher and Rajiv Bhatia in 2010 and compiled with support from NACCHO (National Association of County and City Health Officials) as a project initiative.
This book, published by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), is the second edition of a 2006 publication (which is still available online) with a similar name: Tackling health inequities through public health practice: A handbook for action. This 2010 edition, which is written for people inside and outside public health, is almost a complete revision.
According to its preface, this book is designed as a starting point for health practitioners “ready to reorient public health practice to address the root causes of health inequities.” (p. vi) This reorientation is no small task, as “no predefined set of protocols or tools can eliminate health inequities.”(p. vi) Rather, public health will have to reimagine its practice, take risks, and work for “active and strategic engagement of the public health community in the political process.”(p. vi)
Tackling health inequities is divided into four parts. Part 1 introduces frameworks and evidence for integrating health equity into public health practice. Part 2 explores how racism, class exploitation and sexism shape individuals and communities, and offers insights into how these roots of inequity can be addressed. Part 3 includes case studies that describe public health-community collaborations for social and environmental justice. The cases present protocols and methods: how to monitor organizational accountability, forge relationships, and purposefully collect and report on data.
The chapters in Part 4 focus on the difficult work of shifting consciousness and paradigms. One chapter focuses on how to overcome barriers to teaching about social inequalities in university settings. The appendices contain example guidelines, frameworks and charters to support the public health workforce in taking a more “expanded and expansive view of the scope of public health practice.”
Use this resource to:
Get practical, evidence-informed information about how to reorient public health practice to address the social determinants of health;
Challenge assumptions and inspire change in public health organizations to address the root causes, rather than the consequences, of the unequal distribution of health; and
Learn how others in public health have tackled the structures and beliefs that maintain health inequities.
APA Citation:
Hofrichter, R. & Bhatia, R., ed. (2010). Tackling health inequities through public health practice: Theory to action. 2nd ed. A project of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Oxford University Press: New York, New York.
