This summer, we have been working at the core of systems change. With two new releases to supplement our foundational Blueprint for Changemakers, we have documented our approach to equitable policymaking, which focuses our efforts upstream to uproot five fundamental drivers of health inequity — systemic factors that shape people’s physical and social surroundings in ways that create barriers to health.
Our recent project on equitable policymaking in rural communities is an excellent example of our drivers of inequity framework in action. Over the last two years, we participated in a fruitful partnership that researched high-impact policies to advance racial equity and economic development in rural communities across the United States.
Adding to our resources to help changemakers center equity at each step of the policymaking cycle, we've created a short online guide to evaluation that measures policy partnerships’ impact on communities.
In each of our projects, we prioritize addressing health disparities while partnering across sectors to build stronger systems that promote opportunities and health for all community members.
Read on to learn more about these projects, and please reach out with any questions or ideas for collaboration.
Undoing the Drivers of Health Inequity
Explore our interactive tool to learn ways to address the drivers of health inequity by using law and policy to change inequitable distribution of resources and power. We provide practical policy strategies, key resources, and examples of how communities across the country have used our equitable policymaking tools to confront the drivers of health inequity and create systems change.
Strategies for Equitable Policymaking
This concise guide expands on the equitable policymaking frameworks and concepts presented in A Blueprint for Changemakers — including the drivers of health inequity, community engagement, equitable enforcement, and preemption — and grounds those frameworks in real-world examples and next steps. Changemakers can use this guide to think through, develop, and implement their own legal and policy approaches to improving health equity.
Rural Policymaking
In rural communities across the United States, increasing meaningful participation in the policymaking process for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color while decreasing place, race, and class divides is essential to achieving health and prosperity for all. Our suite of resources was designed to support local and state policymakers as well as community organizers in advancing racial equity and rural prosperity across the United States
Measuring Community Involvement in Policymaking
Measuring the effects of the policy process on communities is important in equity-focused policymaking. Our newest resources offer a menu of evaluation options and metrics to help policymakers, community groups, and public health practitioners measure the effectiveness of community engagement efforts undertaken through policy partnerships. These resources share examples from retail-focused commercial tobacco prevention, but the principles can be applied to every policy area.
8/17/2023