Addressing Structural Racism, Bias, and Health Communication as Foundational Drivers of Obesity Proceedings of a Workshop Series (2022) / Chapter Skim
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9 Reflections on Equity-Centered Approaches to Reducing the Prevalence of Obesity
9 Reflections on Equity-Centered Approaches to Reducing the Prevalence of Obesity
Pages 69-78
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From page 69... ...
• Equity-centered frameworks and strategies both enhance and transcend policy, systems, and environmental change ap proaches to improving public health. An equity-centered strat egy for reducing health inequities addresses social and political pressures or promotes policies designed to change social de terminants of health, applying a people-centered approach to identifying and prioritizing interventions that will most benefit underserved populations.
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From page 70... ...
Its interdisciplinary team of lawyers, planners, analysts, and other professionals works with community organizations, governments, and anchor institutions to develop and implement equitable policy solutions. According to de Guia, a focus of the organization is on demystifying law and policy, which she described as two powerful tools that are often inaccessible to the public yet hold strong potential both to help undo historical harms that affect large numbers of people and to engage change makers in the policy process.
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From page 71... ...
A Blueprint for Changemakers, de Guia elaborated, urges pursuing health equity by addressing five fundamental drivers of health inequity: structural racism and discrimination, income inequality and poverty, disparities in opportunity, disparities in political power, and governance that limits meaningful participation (Figure 9-1)
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From page 72... ...
She explained that an equity-centered strategy for reducing health inequities addresses social and political pressures or promotes policies designed to change social determinants of health, applying a people-centered approach to identifying and prioritizing interventions that will most benefit underserved populations. A Blueprint for Changemakers offers several frameworks and approaches that spotlight people and communities most affected by injustice -- for example, a "health in all policies" approach to government; ongoing, deliberate community engagement processes; and emphasis on local solutions.
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From page 73... ...
The third example offered by de Guia also featured a communitycentered approach, which grew out of a New Jersey documentary demonstrating how community assets could transform local structures and systems to enhance food security. ChangeLab identified legal barriers that communities needed to surmount in order to create and expand urban agriculture, farmers' markets, and community gardens, de Guia said.
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From page 74... ...
Such relationships also enhance policy evaluation by meaningfully soliciting community members' experiences with and feedback on a policy -- information that de Guia termed "community-defined data." Stating that she was energized by the potential opportunities to engage schools and clinical settings in obesity prevention in new ways, de Guia underscored the value of multisector collaboration. She urged public health stakeholders to learn other sectors' languages and to frame communications in a way that invites collaboration.
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From page 75... ...
. Panelists discussed topics that included laying the foundation for a successful communication strategy, using big data and clinical decision support tools, addressing climate change through agricultural policy, navigating gaps in data, implementing public health infrastructure initiatives that relate to obesity, and communicating about COVID-19 and obesity.
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From page 76... ...
A more inclusive approach, he suggested, would be to ensure representation of a broader group of stakeholders in policy initiation and development. One of the first hearings on climate change held by the agriculture community did not include producers of color, he recalled, who could have indicated how potential solutions would impact their communities and contributed their own ideas for solutions to serve their communities' needs.
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From page 77... ...
A more tangential yet relevant public health support would be to increase access to broadband, he suggested, which would provide opportunities for telemedicine and support the building of additional health facilities in rural areas and throughout Indian country. Communicating about COVID-19 and Obesity Niederdeppe shared two observations about health communication regarding COVID-19 and obesity.
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From page 78... ...
Niederdeppe suggested striking a balance between talking and attentive listening, offering qualitative explanations of risks and benefits that are typically provided in quantitative terms, and considering how to provide communication opportunities outside of the clinical encounter with the primary care provider. O'Connor addressed the final question from a participant, who asked about the role of obesity treatment in relation to efforts to change systems to reduce the prevalence of obesity.
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