Science-Driven Approaches to Reducing Inequities through Public Health Policy

On December 6, 2022, The National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC) hosted a congressional briefing on deploying prevention strategies to improve racial equity, particularly in issue areas such as health and education. Research and experience provide guidance about what works to reduce racial disparities and improve health outcomes for all Americans. Despite the existence of strategies shown to reduce inequities and foster equitable practices, translating that knowledge into effective policies has lagged behind the science.
National experts on this topic presented approaches to advance equity by implementing evidence-based prevention-informed policies that reduce the conditions that perpetuate inequities and strengthen factors that protect against them, especially in the areas of health and education. Speakers discussed policies likely to have a population level impact and others that are targeted to specific social conditions within communities. They also discussed how researchers and public sectors can work together to enact such change.
The pandemic exacerbated preexisting inequalities in rates of unemployment, food insecurity, violence, and mortality to name a few. Now is the time to ensure U.S. health policy is grounded in science-driven approaches to reduce economic, health, and social disparities for all people across the nation.
Many universal policies that aim to prevent negative outcomes for all people tend to benefit only certain segments of the population, leaving minority groups in particular with unequal access to needed services. The science of prevention offers solutions to this problem. To illustrate, Dr. Shelton discussed how implementation evaluation strategies can provide a framework to identify and resolve the barriers to even-handed enactment of health policies. Also, implementation science can aid in our understanding of how prevention policies are enforced, further illuminating the root causes of health policy inequities.
​​Additional solution-based strategies work to reduce existing inequities by promoting health and well-being for specific populations. Dr. Iruka discussed how policies focused on preservation, protection, and promotion can ensure that Black children and their families are able to thrive and have equal opportunities to live healthy lives. Her work not only provides actionable solutions to support Black families, but it is also a model for promoting equity for other negatively affected groups.
Dr. Johnson-Lawrence demonstrated how successful partnerships between researchers and public officials can learn from policy challenges and failures and move forward to prevent repeated disaster and improve equitable outcomes. She provided examples of using community-based approaches from the Flint water crisis to promote health improvements through existing health and community systems.