What is Health Equity?

We believe that everyone has the opportunity to live a healthier life, no matter who we are, where we live, or how much money we make.  This is health equity.

Personal responsibility plays a key role in health, but the choices we make depend on the choices we have available to us. We believe that all people have the right to full and healthy lives, but differences such as access to healthcare, education, housing, and other necessary resources can affect the ability to achieve and maintain health.

We acknowledge how factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, environment, and socio-economic status further, hinder, or enhance access to these resources and contribute to differential individual and community health outcomes. In order to achieve health equity, we must put effort in to increase opportunities to be healthier to everyone – especially those who face additional difficulties accessing resources.

Wauwatosa Health Department's Health Equity Mission Statement:

At the Wauwatosa Health Department, we aim to achieve health equity by improving access to health resources for the entire community. We strive to promote an inclusive environment within our organization and are committed to continuous learning and collaboration with diverse community partners. By coordinating our values, policies, and practices, we will work to eliminate disparities in public health to advance health equity for all. We have been working toward health equity by using Public Health 3.0 as a framework.

What is Public Health 3.0?

Public health originated in the late 19th century as a government function to organize sanitation, improve food and water safety, understand disease, and develop tools such as vaccines and antibiotics. It developed into a standard model and included services such as immunizations, communicable disease investigations, inspections, and educational outreach.

Public Health 3.0 is an innovative national approach that addresses the root causes of health outcomes. This model recognizes that there are gaps in traditional public health and provides a framework for addressing community health through a systemic and collaborative approach. Public Health 3.0 recommends that public health departments use data to guide programming, engage in cross-sector partnerships, and incorporate the role of a Public Health Strategist.

Examples of Wauwatosa’s Health Equity Work

• Coordinate social media posts and city-wide communications about health equity
• Regularly use data analysis to identify health disparities in Wauwatosa
• Ensure there is access to translation services
• Host regular staff trainings and discussions around various equity topics
• Removed gender questions from the demographic section of vaccination forms
• Created sensory clinic for individuals with sensory needs
• Created and utilize the regional Health Equity Toolkit and Training Program
• Board of Health approved the Wauwatosa Health Department sign-on to declare racism as a public health crisis
• Applied for and received a grant to create COVID-19 vaccine messaging that targeted underserved populations and assessed barriers to vaccination
• Incorporated equity into our Community Health Improvement Plan and our 2023-2025 strategic plan

How we are continuing to implement health equity

• Reviewing existing policies with an equity lens
• Creating foundational equity training requirements for employee and volunteer orientation
• Identifying and implementing public health department equity assessments
• Incorporating equity goals into intern and student projects