Achieving health equity
What is health equity and how can it be achieved?
Those questions formed the basis of the VITALS program with Kendalle Cobb, M.D., associate chief of staff, Cleveland Clinic, on Oct. 5 via Zoom.
Health equity, she said, “means everyone has a fair and just opportunity to achieve health.”
She noted the American Hospital Association suggests that health systems can achieve equity through:
- Culturally appropriate health care,
- Equitable and inclusive organizational policies,
- The collection and use of data to drive action,
- Diverse representation in leadership and governance,
- Community collaboration to develop solutions, and
- Systemic and shared accountability
“The work I’ve been most passionate about is the work I’ve been engaged with in the past few years, which is helping [Cleveland Clinic] develop a health disparity measurement,” Dr. Cobb noted. “We know that unless you look at outcomes, unless you measure something, you’re not going to be able to move it.”
Watch VITALS with Kendalle Cobb
Coming up on VITALS:
Amy Acton, M.D. (’90), joins VITALS at noon, Thursday, Nov. 2, in person in Watanakunakorn Auditorium and via Zoom.
Dr. Acton will focus her remarks on leadership and lessons learned in her role as the director of the Ohio Department of Health and as cabinet member and advisor to the Governor of Ohio during an unprecedented crisis in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.