Health Equity into Action: Strategy, Planning and Other Resources for LHINs

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Health Disparities

Bob Gardner

August 2010

September 2, 2010 1


• there is a clear gradient in health in which people with lower income, education or other indicators of social inequality and exclusion tend to have poorer health

• plus major differences between women and men• in addition, there are systemic disparities in access to and

quality of care within the healthcare system• not just unfair, but health disparities make it more difficult

to achieve provincial priorities such as ALCs, ER, diabetes, etc, and contribute to avoidable costs

• that’s why enhancing health equity has become a clear priority – from the Province to LHINs to many providers

• and that’s why we need tools and approaches to build equity into effective system and service planning

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inequality in how long people live• difference btwn life expectancy of top and bottom

income decile = 7.4 years for men and 4.5 for women

+ inequality in how well people live:• more sophisticated analyses add the pronounced

gradient in morbidity to mortality → taking account of quality of life and developing data on health adjusted life expectancy

• even higher disparities btwn top and bottom = 11.4 years for men and 9.7 for women (Statistics Canada Health Reports Dec 09)

© The Wellesley Institute www.wellesleyinstitute.com


• these and further resources on policy directions to enhance health equity, health reform and the social determinants of health are available on our site at http://wellesleyinstitute.com

• my email is [email protected]

• I would be interested in any comments on how useful this resource was and how you would improve it

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mailto:[email protected]

Health Equity into Action: Strategy, Planning and Other Resources for LHINs

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Health Equity into Action: Strategy, Planning and Other Resources for LHINs