Health Equity

The South Carolina envisioned by the Alliance is one where everyone is able to achieve his or her potential for good health. This is why it is so important that we have a health equity focus in all our work, we need to make sure that we improve our numbers while decreasing disparity gaps between population groups. Scroll down to find a summary of the equity metrics embedded in each of the priority areas of the Alliance, a Call to Action for Health Equity, and resources to improve health FOR ALL in our state.

Help us achieve a more equitable SC today

Strategies

The Call to Action for Health Equity focuses on changing the way organizations see their role in helping diverse populations make healthy choices, access health and social services, and enjoy healthier physical and social environments. It is composed of four actions that will help our organizations understand obstacles to health improvement and how to work together to develop sustainable solutions for accelerating health improvement for everyone in South Carolina.

Data-driven interventions  
We can use data to discover which groups of people may need extra support from our organization and partners.

Cultural competence & responsiveness
We can assess and train ourselves to have more empathetic relationships with people of different backgrounds.

Community Engagement
We can partner with communities to increase the impact of health improvement interventions.

Inclusive decision making
We can invest in maximizing opportunity for diverse groups of the population to be included at all levels of decision making.  

  1. Data-driven Targeted Interventions: Collect and use data to identify and guide decision making regarding the health equity challenges in SC.

    • Collect data to identify health equity challenges experienced by our employees and clients and use it to design and implement targeted interventions.

    • Use secondary data to identify health equity challenges in the geographic areas of influence of our organizations and use it to design and implement targeted interventions.

  2. Cultural Competence and Responsiveness: Develop and maintain a culturally competent and responsive organizational culture for employees, clients and partners.

  3. Inclusive Decision-Making: Ensure our organizations are designed to guarantee inclusive decision making. This can be achieved through enhanced emphasis on the recruitment of highly qualified minorities for leadership positions, and the investment of filling the pipeline with diverse leaders for this and future generations.

  4. Community Engagement: Engage the community as partners in the design and delivery of sustainable health solutions.

Read more about the South Carolina Call to Action for Health Equity here.

Join the Call to Action

Contact agallego@scha.org if you want to join the Call to Action. The baseline assessment is available here.

Learn From Local Peers

This section includes information about local experts in the various elements of the call to action. If you’d like more guidance on who to contact, get in touch with Ana Isabel Gallego.

 Data-driven Targeted Interventions

  • How to stratify and use Race, Ethnicity and Language Preference data in a Hospital:

  • How to stratify and use public health outcomes data by race, ethnicity, zip-code, and income:

    • Use DHEC’s SCANGIS to stratify health outcomes related to births, cancer incidence, deaths, fetal deaths, infant mortality, pregnancy, etc. Contact agallego@scha.org if you need help learning to use the system.

Cultural Competence and Responsiveness

Inclusive Decision Making

Community Engagement

Resources

Tools

  • Alliance for a Healthier South Carolina Case Studies

    • Spartanburg – Engaging Communities To Improve Health Outcomes  | Data | Community Engagement

    • AnMed Health – “Differentiology Is The Science Of Different-ness” and using REaL Data | Data | Cultural Competence

    • A Commitment To Diversity: The Greenville Health System | Diversity

    • Beaufort – A History Of Community Partnerships | Community Engagement

    • MUSC Department of Psychiatry | Diversity and Inclusion

    • Charleston, Dorchester Mental Health Center | Community Engagement