BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: EXPLORING THE INTERSECTION OF HOUSING AND HEALTH EQUITY
repost Building Healthy Communities: Exploring the Intersection of Housing & Health Equity By: Namandje Wali, Program Manager of Training and Outreach In Connecticut, as with many other communities across the […]
No More Medical Debt: Closing Disparities in Hospital Billing through FAIR Act and SITE Act
Far too often, people are forced into debt because medical care has gotten so expensive. Medical debt is a significant concern in our state and country, forcing families to make budget cuts and pressuring people on fixed incomes. This is a devastating reality for millions of Americans. Our policymaking leaders need to zero in on the key drivers of high healthcare costs – like dishonest hospital billing practices – and eliminate them.
Community-led Solutions: Advancing Medicaid Reimbursement for Community Health Workers in Connecticut
After working together to pass and implement community health worker (CHW) certification in Connecticut, HES and our partners were eager to see more progress in expanding and solidifying this vital […]
Health Equity Week 2023
The first full week of April is now recognized in statute as Health Equity Week! This week annually reaffirms Connecticut’s commitment to eliminating inequities in health and ensuring all residents […]
Community Health Worker Advocacy 2023
Community Health Workers (CHWs), go by many names: lay health workers, navigators, promotores, peer support workers, health educators, community health advocates, community health liaisons, and many other titles. All community health workers are public health outreach professionals with an in-depth understanding of the experiences, languages, cultures, and socioeconomic needs of the community they serve.
Community Conversations 2022 Workshops
Each year Health Equity Solutions hosts listening sessions to learn what health equity issues are most important to people in Connecticut. This year we are flipping the script.
Let’s talk about it!
CT’s Path to Equity: Inclusion
Inclusion describes systems, processes, and circumstances that are open to and respectful of the needs of diverse people.
Achieving health equity requires us to be intentional in creating meaningful exchanges of ideas among our health systems, policymakers, and the people most affected by inequities at every stage of policymaking—from identifying problems to evaluating the effects of policies and adapting to new information.
CT’s Path to Equity: Affordability
Affordability means people can access health care while still being able to cover routine expenses.
Approximately 18% of Connecticut households with working adults had health care costs that exceeded their ability to afford basic needs. Black, Latino, and low-income adults are disproportionately affected by higher health care costs and face more hurdles to meet basic needs.
CT’s Path to Equity: Opportunities to be Healthy
Opportunities to be healthy are the conditions and circumstances that enable us to prevent illness and injury and maintain the best possible quality of life when disease or accidents occur.
These are the daily context in which people live, work, play, pray, and age and that affect their health. Systemic racism and its consequences have led to Black, Indigenous, and other people of color being more likely to experience barriers to health, including higher-wage jobs, health insurance, education, healthy housing, clean air and water, and more.
CT’s Path to Equity: Anti-Racist Structures
Anti-racist structures acknowledge that all people and institutions exhibit racism at some point or some way and are committed to dismantling racism through policies and practices that advance racial justice and promote equity.