Innovation in Advancing Health Equity

Background

Health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to “attain his or her full health potential” and no one is “disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.” Health inequities and health disparities are driven by community and environmental factors — reflected by differences in length of life; quality of life; rates of disease, disability, and death; severity of disease; and access to treatment.

Large employers can utilize their innovative cross-sector initiatives and interventions to help eliminate disparate gaps in care — ultimately leading to a more healthy, engaged and productive workforce. With advancing health equity, the goal is to reduce and eventually eliminate disparities and subsequently inequities, so all can achieve optimal health and well-being. 

Eligibility

Business Group Members. Non-member organizations MUST meet one of the following criteria:

• Is a Fortune 500 company
• Is in the top 100 of Forbes America’s Largest Private Companies; or
• Has at least 5,000 employees.

Submission Requirements

Up to 8 pages electronic Word/PDF document. Up to 4 supporting materials/documents are acceptable, maximum of 5 pages per document.

Submission Questions

Please be sure to answer all the questions below in your essay submission; 400 word maximum per question.

• To effectively address health equity, health disparities should be identified.  What data is collected to identify health disparities?  How is this data used to address and reduce those disparities?
• Addressing social determinants of health is essential to promote and advance health equity.  Social determinants are the conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play and worship. For which of the following social determinants of health do you have specific interventions?  Please describe the initiatives and specify the population(s) that these initiatives are intended to impact.
  • Health & Health Care- Access to health care, health literacy
  • Economic Stability- Improved food security, financial security, and employment opportunity (including equitable pay)
  • Education- Programs to pay for higher learning, language and literacy
  • Neighborhood & Built Environment- Improved quality of housing, access to healthy foods, access to transportation
  • Social & Community- Promoting social connectedness, social networks & social support
• What strategic partnerships are integral to your approach to health equity (health plans, providers, community-based organizations, other entities)?
• Briefly describe whether and how Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) play a role in advancing health equity.
• Provide specific results of your health equity initiatives (participation, utilization etc.)
• How are you addressing diversity and inclusion within your organization?

Optional Video Submission

Video submission detailing your health equity efforts. If you are selected as a winner, snippets of the video will be shown during the award presentation at Business Health Agenda 2020.

• Video specifications
  • High resolution video clips
  • Acceptable File Formats- .mp4 or .H264 format with a preferred resolution of 720 x 1280 (minimum of 864 x 486)

Submission Deadline

Due 5 pm ET February 7, 2020 Email Submission to Joneyse Harley or Upload Via Dropbox.

Award Ceremony: Luncheon during Business Health Agenda, March 26, 2020.