Creating Political Will for Action on Health Equity: Practical Lessons for Public Health Policy Actors
This resource is available in English only.
Despite evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO) Commission demonstrating the need for action addressing social determinants of health, political response has been lacking. The authors of this 2020 article attribute the lack of political response to the lack of political will. Through the dissection of eight case studies of Australian policies, study authors determine effective strategies that public health policymakers can employ to create political will for health equity policies across multiple sectors.
The eight case studies explore examples of what works for or against health equity action in:
- Trade agreements
- Primary healthcare
- Work conditions
- Digital access
- Urban planning
- Social welfare
- Indigenous health policies
Interviews were conducted with 192 state and non-state participants; study authors completed thematic analysis and triangulation with document analysis.
Strategies to create or mobilize political will:
- Determine how to break path dependency that worsens health inequities
- Work with sympathetic political forces committed to fairness
- Frame policy options to be more easily adopted
- Outline factors to consider regarding existing interests
- Consider how civil society will work with equitable policies
- In order for health equity and the right to health to be prioritized, a shift in norms is required
Use this resource to:
- Explore examples of barriers and facilitators to health equity action across sectors
- Strategize engagement of political forces in health equity action
- Understand how to develop effective partnership across sectors to promote health equity action
Related resources:
Communicating to propel organizational capacity for action on health equity (2021)
A practice framework for building organizational capacity for health equity (2020)
Local action on health inequalities – Understanding and reducing ethnic inequalities in health (2018)
Public health leadership to advance health equity: A review summary (2018)
Public health leadership for action on health equity: A literature review (2018)
Reference:
Baum, F., Townsend, B., Fisher, M., Browne-Yung, K., Freeman, T., Ziersch, A., Harris, P., & Friel, S. (2020). Creating Political Will for Action on Health Equity: Practical Lessons for Public Health Policy Actors. International journal of health policy and management, 10.34172/ijhpm.2020.233. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.2020.233
Tags: Healthy public policy, Intersectoral action, Participate in policy development, Document, Journal Article