ECP RESOURCES
Our Work
Our approach to equity-centered policy work fuses policy assessment, research and data gathering, ethical collaboration, and community capacity building. With support from the Office of Minority Health and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, The Center’s Equity-Centered Policies Unit has produced multiple resources meant to inspire and assist a variety of audiences with their policy considerations.
Below, you will find resources like our Truth Be Told: Storytelling for Equity-Centered Policy Change Toolbox to help communities identify systemic drivers of health disparities and solutions to address those issues, using just their life stories; or a recording of the ECP Unit’s luncheon panel at the 2023 State of Black Health Conference, where our team of public health lawyers and policy analysts detail our legal epidemiology assessment on the impact of inequitable transportation policy on Black health. Our “State of Black Health 2023: a Policy Platform” resource provides an overview of a variety of Black health issues facing a diverse Black population and the systemic drivers of related health disparities.
Videos
​​At 2023 State of Black Health Conference, Equity-Centered Policies Director Natasha Phelps presents and moderates two panels exploring The Center’s equity-centered policy work to eliminate health disparities facing African Americans during the 2023 State of Black Health Conference, including a legal epidemiology assessment of Black neighborhoods damaged by freeways and community engagement in Atlanta, New Orleans, and Detroit.
Equity Centered Policy & Storytelling
At the 2023 State of Black Health Conference, Equity-Centered Policies Director Natasha Phelps presented and moderated two panels exploring The Center’s equity-centered policy work to eliminate health disparities facing African Americans, including a legal epidemiology assessment of Black neighborhoods damaged by freeways and community engagement in Atlanta, New Orleans, and Detroit.
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Truth Be Told: New Orleans
Truth Be Told: New Orleans is a storytelling project that uses life experiences as a tool for identifying systemic racism that has driven health inequities in New Orleans, Louisiana. Created in partnership with Ashé Cultural Arts Center, this documentary short film was supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and serves as a model for bringing data to life through documented community environmental assessment.
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Truth Be Told: Detroit
Truth Be Told: Detroit is a storytelling project using the life experiences of community members in Detroit, Michigan, as a tool for identifying and addressing the systemic racism driving health inequities. Supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the film was created in partnership with Making It Count Community Development Corporation, and features insight on the fight to change policy for African Americans who face community instability, poverty, racism, illiteracy, urban renewal, and housing displacement.
ECP Toolbox
The Truth Be Told Toolbox includes a combination of resources for community change agents seeking to understand the power and importance of storytelling for educating others about equity-centered policy.
Policy Platform
Understanding the state of Black health and the related determinants remain crucial to advancing global public health and public health in the U.S. Health disparities have existed for centuries, and current disparate outcomes Black people face are largely due to longstanding inequalities in law and policy, health care, and the social, economic, and environmental factors that impact our health and influence life expectancy. This policy platform addresses deeper causes of health outcomes that may seem “outside of public health,” but certainly are not, such as how transportation policy impacts one’s ability to eat fresh foods, combat loneliness, and breathe fresh air.
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Trusted External Resources
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American Public Health Association, “What does Health in All Policies Mean?”
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American Public Health Association, “What is Public Health?”
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American Public Health Association, “What is Health Equity?”
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Institute for Healthcare Improvement, “What Is Health Equity, and Why Does It Matter?”
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American Public Health Association, “How Do Social Determinants Impact Public Health?”
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American Public Health Association, “How Does Environment Affect Our Health?”
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“Focusing On Equity and Inclusion: When We Work On Public Health Laws"
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“Equity in Action: Operationalizing Processes in State Governance”
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“Achieving Health Equity” by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Racism is a Public Health Crisis declaration map by the American Public Health Association
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“Equity in Action: Operationalizing Processes in State Governance”
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“Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health: Volume I: Executive Summary”