October 31, 2023
Many leading employers and their vendor partners are prioritizing health equity and aim to abolish health disparities across the globe.
Health equity is achieved when everyone has the opportunity to reach their full health potential regardless of demographic, social and geographic differences.1 Movement forward will require commitments to uncovering bias and discrimination, understanding and changing the experiences of marginalized populations, implementing benefits and resources to address unmet needs and taking action alongside community and government organizations to drive change.
Employers have an important role to play in supporting employees and their dependents in reaching their full health potential. Each employer’s path toward health equity will look different based on business and workforce priorities, culture and internal processes. For example, one employer may choose to start with an assessment of their current benefits in tandem with available data on health care engagement and outcomes to identify disparities and focus on implementing the most impactful interventions for their workforce. Another may take a culture-driven, fiscally conservative approach, focusing on employee feedback and prioritizing low-cost interventions and partnerships to build momentum with quick wins.
The Employer Guide to Health Equity shares actionable ideas for those employers committed to advancing health equity within four domains: health care access, equitable engagement, inclusive experience and social determinants of health. It includes key employer strategies, large employer data, spotlights on employers in action, important considerations related to global implementation and links to related resources.
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Resource Health Equity- 1 | World Health Organization. Health Equity. https://www.who.int/health-topics/health-equity. Accessed October 5, 2023.
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IntroductionEmployer Guide to Health Equity
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Full GuideEmployer Guide to Health Equity: Full Guide
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Executive SummaryEmployer Guide to Health Equity Executive Summary
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InfographicHealth Equity: Employer Role in Driving Change Globally
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Part 1Health Care Access
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Part 2Inclusive Experience
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Part 3Equitable Engagement
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Part 4Social Determinants of Health