Health Equity Definitions

The active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices, and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably.¹

Someone who has completed the asylum application and been awarded asylum.²

The process of asylum is a form of protection provided to aliens physically present in the United States who meet the legal definition of refugee under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) policy and are not otherwise banned from applying for or receiving asylum.³

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Seekers are in process but have not been granted.

The feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group.⁴

Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in an unfair or negative way.⁵

Note

See explicit bias and implicit bias for more details.

A set of values, beliefs, customs, norms, perceptions, and experiences shared by a group of people. An individual may identify with or belong to many different cultural groups.¹⁰

Individuals and organizations having the capacity to provide services that honor different beliefs, interpersonal styles, attitudes, behaviors, and needs related to culture which are presented by consumers and their communities.⁷

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Cultural competence may include a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations.⁷

Approach to respectfully engaging others with cultural identities different from your own and recognizing that no cultural perspective is superior to another. The practice of cultural humility acknowledges systems of oppression and involves critical self-reflection, lifelong learning and growth, a commitment to recognizing and sharing power, and a desire to work toward institutional accountability.¹⁰

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Cultural humility involves an ongoing process of self-exploration and self-critique combined with a willingness to learn from others. It means entering a relationship with another person with the intention of honoring their beliefs, customs, and values. It means acknowledging differences and accepting that person for who they are.⁸

The unequal treatment of members of various groups based on race, gender, social class, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion, and other categories.⁹

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Membership to these groups may be actual or perceived.¹⁰

Diversity encompasses all the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. It is all-inclusive and recognizes everyone and every group as part of the diversity that should be valued.⁹

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Differences among people with respect to, but not limited to, age, class, ethnicity, gender identity, health, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, religion, physical size, education level, job and function, personality traits, geography, and other human differences.⁵

Economic inequality is the unequal distribution of income and opportunity between different groups in society.¹²

Refers to someone who is leaving their country to live permanently in another.¹³

The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.¹⁴

Everyone having the same treatment, resources, or opportunities without accounting for differing needs or circumstances.¹⁰

Refers to the collection of measures and procedures taken to address the barriers that keep marginalized businesses from fully participating in the procurement process of organizations. It involves engaging a new and more diverse set of vendors and contractors in the procurement process and being intentional in doing so.¹⁵

Everyone getting what they need to survive or succeed—access to opportunity, networks, resources, and supports—based on where they are and where they want to go.¹⁶

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An equity emphasis seeks to render justice by deeply considering structural factors that benefit some social groups and communities and harm other social groups and communities. Sometimes justice demands, for the purpose of equity, an unequal response.⁹

The shared social, cultural, and historical experiences, stemming from common national or regional backgrounds, that make subgroups of a population different from one another.¹⁷

Note

Race and ethnicity are commonly combined or interchanged. While both are social constructs, race is usually focused on physical traits while ethnicity is more focused on cultural aspects.

To prevent or restrict the entrance of or block from participation, consideration, or inclusion.¹⁸

The attitudes and beliefs we have about a person or group on a conscious level and may use purposefully.¹⁹

Fairness is treating people justly and not letting personal feelings bias decisions about others.²⁰

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Giving everyone a fair chance and believing there should be equal opportunity for all, while also realizing that what is fair for one person might not be fair for another.²⁰

A set of physical, social, psychological, and emotional traits, often influenced by societal expectations, that classify someone as a man, woman, mixture of both, or neither. Gender is socially constructed.²¹

How a person presents gender outwardly, through behavior, clothing, voice or other perceived characteristics.²²

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Society identifies these cues as masculine or feminine, although what is considered masculine or feminine changes over time and varies by culture.²²

One's own internal sense of self and their gender, whether that is man, woman, neither or both.²²

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Unlike gender expression, gender identity is not outwardly visible to others.²²

Physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.²³

The state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health.²⁴

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Achieving health equity requires valuing everyone equally with focused and ongoing efforts to address avoidable inequalities, historical and contemporary injustices, and the elimination of health and health care disparities.²⁵

A difference in health outcomes across populations groups.²⁶

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The definition indicates that a difference exists, but it doesn’t consider whether the difference is caused by something preventable.²⁶

When avoidable inequalities lead to an uneven distribution of the resources and opportunities for health and are differences in health that are avoidable, unfair, or stemming from injustice.²¹

Within the United States, any person lawfully in the U.S. who is not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or person admitted under a nonimmigrant category by the INA.²⁷

Note

This does not always refer to a humanitarian context.

Associations, usually negative, that people hold without conscious awareness. They are usually expressed through judgement, decision-making, and behavior.⁹

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Also known as unconscious or hidden bias.

Ensuring everyone is visible, heard, and considered in an intentional and authentic way that promotes a true sense of belonging and provides full access to opportunities.^5,10

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To ensure individuals who are included aren’t tokenized, it’s important to bring traditionally excluded individuals or groups into processes, activities, and decision and policy making in a way that shares power.⁹

Unfair, harmful, or hateful behavior, beliefs, or actions from one person directed against another person or other people, based on race.²⁸

Note

Individual racism can be conscious or unconscious.

Lack of fairness or justice and describes differences that result from a lack of access to opportunities and resources. Inequities are avoidable.¹⁰ 

The ways in which classifications such as gender, race, class, and sexuality overlap and intersect in people’s identities and lives, in society, and in social systems and cannot be examined in isolation from each other.²¹

Discriminatory treatment, unfair policies and practices, and inequitable opportunities and impacts within organizations and institutions, based on race.²¹

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Institutional policies may never explicitly mention any racial group.

The ways in which individuals or groups are rendered powerless and pushed to margins of economic, social, political, and cultural life.²⁹

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In practice, this can manifest as ignoring the needs of a specific group or failing to provide a group with the same opportunities that are available to other members of society. Much like the notes in the blank edges of a book, marginalized groups are treated as separate from the main body of society.³⁰

A person who leaves their country of origin to seek temporary or permanent residence in another country.³¹

A pre-judgment or unjustifiable, and usually negative, attitude of one type of individual or groups toward another group and its members.⁹

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Prejudice is a set of attitudes, which supports, causes, or justifies discrimination. Such negative attitudes are typically based on unsupported generalizations (or stereotypes) that deny the right of individual members of certain groups to be recognized and treated as individuals with individual characteristics.⁹

An occasion or situation that makes it possible for a person to do something that they want or have to do.³²

Socially constructed system of organizing people into groups based on characteristics such as cultural affiliation, physical appearance, language, national heritage, religion, or ancestral geographical base. Race has no genetic basis— no characteristic, trait, or gene distinguishes members of one racial group from another.¹⁰

Note

For additional information about the history of race, visit Chapter 13 of Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology, 2nd Edition.³³

Policies, behaviors and rules that result in a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race.³⁴

Individuals who are outside their home country and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group or political opinion.³¹

A source of supply or support.³⁵

A person's biological status typically assigned at birth, usually based on external anatomy. Sex is typically categorized as male, female or intersex.²²

One’s sense of self in relation to their sexuality. A broad term that encompasses many components, including gender identity and sexual orientation.³⁶

An enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, or affectional attraction or non-attraction to other people.¹⁰

Note

There are many ways of identifying sexually, and a person may identify more with one sexuality than another at different points during their life. Types of sexuality include, but are not limited to, gay, straight, and bisexual. For a more complete list with accompanying definitions, go to What are the different types of sexualities?³⁷

An idea that has been created and accepted by the people in a society.³⁸

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Social constructs are characteristics typically thought to be immutable and solely biological ― such as gender, race, class, ability, and sexuality ― are products of human definition and interpretation shared by cultural and historical contexts.³⁹

The nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies, racism, climate change, and political systems.⁴⁰

A negative and often unfair social attitude attached to a person or group, often placing shame on them for a perceived deficiency or difference to their existence.⁴¹

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Components of stigma include labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination. For stigmatization to occur, power must be exercised.⁴²

Systemic factors that may hinder the ability of an individual to access the resources they need.⁴³

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Structural barriers can be policies, practices, and other norms that favor an advantaged group while systematically disadvantaging a marginalized group.⁴⁴

The cumulative effects of factors including public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms and cultural beliefs that work in various ways, often reinforcing and perpetuating racial inequity.²¹

Forms of racism that are engrained in society or organizations. It is when entire racial groups are discriminated against, or consistently disadvantaged, by larger social systems, practices, choices or policies.⁴⁵

Note

The major systems that perpetuate racism include economy, politics, education, criminal justice and health.¹⁰

Something that a person or organization does that seems to support or help a group of people who are treated unfairly in society, such as giving a member of that group an important or public position, but which is not meant to make changes that would help that group of people in a lasting way.⁴⁶