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Health Equity

Health Equity is “the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health” (CDC). Achieving health equity is a goal that requires addressing social determinants of health and eliminating health disparities. Social determinants of health are the non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. The World Health Organization lists the following examples of social determinants of health that can influence health equity in both positive and negative ways:

  • Income and social protection
  • Education
  • Unemployment and job insecurity
  • Working life conditions
  • Food insecurity
  • Housing and the Environment
  • Early childhood development
  • Social inclusion and non-discrimination
  • Structural conflict
  • Access to affordable health services of decent quality

Health disparities are associated with key factors such as inadequate access to health care, poverty, educational inequalities, behavioral factors, and environmental exposures. Historically marginalized groups are at greatest risk for health disparities due to their experience of discriminatory practices within many aspects of society. Our department strives to promote health equity and support advances in research, teaching, patient care, and workforce development that will positively impact the health of all people we serve.

 

Health Equity Leadership

LeRon Jackson, MD, MPH, is the Senior Advisor for Health Equity. She leads faculty development, from creating a new leadership program for junior faculty to developing more senior faculty so they can better serve as mentors.

Riley Smith, MD, is the Faculty Liaison to the department’s LGBTQ+ Task Force. He works to ensure that The UNC Family Medicine Centers at Chapel Hill, Durham, Carraway Village, and South Durham are welcoming spaces where our LGBTQ+ communities feel validated and receive the effective, evidence-based care they need.

Venus Standard, MSN, CNM, is our Director of Education and Community Engagement. She employs her considerable experience and entrepreneurship to engage our communities, both inside and outside the department, and leads inclusive excellence education and curricular initiatives for staff, residents, and faculty.

Amber Komorian, MD, MPH, is the Director of Academic Excellence at UNC Family Medicine Residency, working to facilitate the development of activities that promote a supportive learning environment for residents of all backgrounds.

 

UNC Family Medicine Strategic Improvement Plan
The department has recently released its 2021-2026 Strategic Improvement Plan. We view this as a living document as we continue to understand more about the changes required to improve our department. A special thanks goes out to Alexa Mieses Malchuk, MD, MPH, whose leadership and contributions as the inaugural Director of Inclusive Excellence for Faculty led to this report.

The UNC Family Medicine Health Equity Fund
The Health Equity Fund is utilized by Health Equity leaders for efforts such as training faculty and staff in innovative methods of addressing unconscious bias and inherent racism, resources for residency education, pilot funds for research to improve current inequities, inclusive outreach to our community and state, and more. If you feel so moved, you may give easily and securely to these efforts at go.unc.edu/FM-HealthEquityFund, or contact Reid_Johnson@med.unc.edu for more info.