Health Equity | The Need

What is Health Equity?

According to the World Health Organization, Health Equity is defined as “the absence of avoidable, unfair, or remediable differences among groups of people, whether those groups are defined socially, economically, demographically, or geographically or by other means of stratification. ‘Health equity’ or ‘equity in health’ implies that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain their full health potential and that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential.” 1 “Equity in health implies that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain their full health potential and, more pragmatically, that none should be disadvantaged from achieving this potential.” 2 Health Equity is driven by a number of things.

Addressing the Need

Access to appropriate care can make a significant difference in one’s overall health. Adverse mental and physical health conditions can be diminished or avoided by participating in programs of prevention and care. With limited access to these resources and no context of how or why mental and physical health impact wellness, the lives of many individuals in poverty do not improve. Without our intervention the cycle continues. Since 2010 OnePatient Global Health Initiative (OPGHI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has been committed to promoting improvements in mental and physical healthcare by addressing disparity as it relates to social determinants and recognizing the important roles played by poverty, racial disparities, and social inequality. To achieve this, OPGHI offers a wide range of mental and musculoskeletal health care services informed by best practices, designed to address the structural drivers of health equality. Using innovative care models, patient health outcomes are improved, and we are able to simultaneously treat patients and train future health professionals on the multidisciplinary care necessary to end health disparity. OPGHI has worked diligently to end the bidirectional mistrust of patients and providers that has historically led to an underutilization of services in preventative areas. We strive to connect with each patient in each community to build rapport and trust as the cornerstones for healthcare.