HEALTH EQUITY CHECKUP
Transportation
Transportation generally refers to the multiple ways people and goods move from one point to another. Common examples include sidewalks, public buses or light rail, and roads. As you gather data related to transportation in your communities, consider how transportation contributes to the health of your community.
Food access and security
Food access and security is a way for us to look at how populations are provided with sufficient amounts of nutritious food. Access refers to how easily people can get food, and security refers to a community’s ability to provide food to its people, usually through grocery stores, school food programs and even community gardens.
Clean and safe environment
Our physical and social environments contribute to the strength of community health. In fact, the connection between the two is very important. Where neighborhoods have vibrant, green gathering places, social connectedness is stronger among the residents. Likewise, high levels of toxins in the physical environment impact a community through the general health of the population. People who live in areas where water is unsafe to drink and where the air is polluted experience higher rates of cancer, asthma and heart disease.
Recreation
Personal and community health is also impacted by the opportunities that exist for community members to recreate. Recreation spans activities that include walking, aerobics as well as team and individual sports.
Personal Health
Doctors recognize that personal health is a complex mixture of personal behaviors and the impacts of our immediate social and physical environments. In addition, researchers can look at the overall health of a community by examining the personal health statistics of a population.
Demographics
Demographic information usually describes the general characteristics of the population in your community.
HEALTH CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR CITY
also known as the social determinants of health
“The social determinants of health are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics.” - World Health Organization, 2012
The social determinants of health are the forces that comprise our socio-political and environmental /physical realities: forces we are often times born into and do not choose. Usually, these forces are heavily influenced by societal structures and systems that make it easier or more difficult to access wealth, education, healthcare, or a clean and safe environment. These can have a combined negative impact on quality of life and thus mortality, especially when access is limited or denied. For example, in the United States, premature death (death occurring before the age of 65) is three times more likely for individuals coming from low income families (families making less than $10,000/year) when compared to individuals coming from high income families (making more than $100,000/year). For middle income families, those making $20,000-$100,000, premature death is twice as likely as it is for high income families. Income, however, is only one determinant — within one category of social determinants — affecting lifespan and quality of life. Researchers have identified three main categories of social determinants: economic opportunities, community environment, and social factors. Please see below the Explanatory Framework for Conceptualizing the Social Determinants of Health for a visualization of these categories, individual health factors, and overall combined outcomes.
The categories outlined below represent the basic determinants of health which will be investigated through the activity on this website. Gathering information about these characteristics in your community will help you better understand all the factors that may contribute to the health and wellbeing of its residents.