Health Equity Solutions

Authored by Victoria Tran

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.

In 2021, Connecticut passed Public Act 21-35, which declared racism a public health crisis, created a Commission on Racial Equity in Public Health, defined “structural racism,” and took other steps to promote health equity in CT. The state’s 2021 budget also created an infrastructure for racial and ethnic impact assessments on proposed legislation, which was authorized in 2018.

To further anti-racist policymaking in CT, Health Equity Solutions recommends:

• Consistently conduct health equity impact assessments on all proposed changes to policies, programs, and practices.
• Creating racial and ethnic impact assessments for all state legislative proposals (as the state does for fiscal impact)
• Embedding health equity in all executive branch decision-making through a Health Equity in All Policies approach
• Requiring all state agencies to develop time-bound and measurable goals towards health equity informed by community input and disproportionality indices.
• Appointing a person or group to serve as an “equity monitor” or to be responsible for addressing equity in decision making at all levels of government and in all health systems
• Disseminating quality training, outreach, and education on cultural humility, health equity, and anti-racism
• Creating meaningful community engagement that fosters collaboration between government, health systems, and communities; community benefit laws are one option, and others are noted in our post on inclusion.

How does this image reflect your work? What is missing? Please share your thoughts with us by email or social media (Facebook: @healthequityct; Instagram: @healthequitysolutions; Twitter: @HealthEquityCT). Stay tuned for posts expanding on each section of CT’s Path to Equity.