Social and Health Equity

While many of our reports include data related to the social determinants of health and racial/ethnic, income, and place disparities, we include below some of our latest reports that have a social and health equity perspective and Life and Death from Unnatural Causes, our in-depth look at health inequities and underlying social inequities in Alameda County. Also see our section on Social and Health Equity for information on what the Alameda County Public Health Department is doing to address inequities.

Persistent Poverty | Asian & Pacific Islander Model Minority Myth | Health and Social Equity

Bus Funding and Access | Economic Inequality | Foreclosures | Life and Death from Unnatural Causes

Persistent Poverty
	Persistent Poverty Story Map Published 2015 Neighborhoods with persistent poverty are marked by lack of access to services, deprivation, and struggle to make ends meet. Persistent poverty is defined as a high-poverty census tract (20 percent or more persons in poverty) that has had high poverty since 1970 through each of the decennial censuses—and more recently—in the American Community Survey. Alameda County has prepared a story map on ArcGIS Online highlighting these areas, the root causes, overlapping factors including race/ethnic plurality and unemployment, and a correlated health outcome, life expectancy. The work of the Alameda County Public Health Department is highlighted, as they work with community partners to make local policy changes aimed at improving population health by achieving education, economic, and environmental justice.
Asian & Pacific Islander Model Minority Myth
	Overlooked and Underserved: Problematizing the API Model Minority Myth Published 2014 On May 20, 2014, the CAPE (Community, Assessment, Planning, and Education/Evaluation) unit and MPCAH (Maternal, Paternal, Child, and Adolescent Health) program of the Alameda County Public Health Department held a Brown Bag University (BBU) on the Asian and Pacific Islander population that is often overlooked and underserved within Alameda County and nationwide. This is the presentation that was shared at the BBU, which includes up-to-date data on APIs in Alameda County, provides local evidence for why we must problematize the API “model minority” myth, and acknowledges the broad range of health and social inequities impacting APIs.
Health and Social Equity
	How Place, Racism, and Poverty Matter for Health in Alameda County PresentationPublished 2013 This presentation builds on our 2008 report Life and Death from Unnatural Causes and includes our most up-to-date data on health and social inequities in Alameda County. This presentation will increase your understanding of how place, racism, and poverty matter for health in Alameda County and spark thinking and dialogue about what we can do to advance health and social equity in our county. Please download, share, and use data/slides/talking points from this presentation (please cite: Alameda County Public Health Department, 2013).
	How Place, Racism, and Poverty Matter for Health in Alameda County Video Published 2013 On October 22, 2013, the Alameda County Public Health Department held a Brown Bag University (BBU) to walk people through this presentation on health and social inequities. If you were unable to attend, here is a video of the BBU.
	How Place, Racism, and Poverty Matter for Health in Alameda County Handout Published 2013 This is a handout that highlights main data and points on how place, racism, and poverty matter for health in Alameda County. Please download and distribute widely.
	Advancing Health Equity: Improving Community Conditions that Matter for Health Published 2014 This is a video of the BBU put on by Alameda County Public Health Department on January 16, 2014. It provides an update on what the ACPHD Place Matters initiative is doing to advance health equity and improve community conditions that matter for health in Alameda County.
Bus Fundung and Access
	Getting on Board for Health: A Health Impact Assessment of Bus Funding and Access Published 2013 This report examines the connections between bus access, mobility, and health for transit-dependent bus riders. Based on primary data collected over the summer of 2012, this study assesses how bus service cuts and fare increases in Alameda County have affected bus riders' daily lives and health in terms of the quality of their trip experience, affordability of bus fare, and their ability to access destinations essential for good health. Using survey and focus group data on experiences in the past, combined with public health literature, this study makes recommendations to regional transportation decision-makers about the benefits of enhanced transit service for health.
Economic Inequality
	Economic Inequality: A Growing Threat to Public HealthPublished 2012 This fact sheet includes national, state and local data on how dramatically widening gaps in income and wealth are a growing threat to individual and community health. Economic inequality matters for everybody’s health.
	This presentation, shared at a Brown Bag University session at the Alameda County Public Health Department with staff and community members, summarizes the data and wealth-health connections from the fact sheet and vividly makes the case that economic inequality is a growing threat to the public’s health.
Foreclosures
	Rebuilding Neighborhoods, Restoring Health: A Report on the Impact of Foreclosures on Public Health Published 2010 Describes the multitude of health and economic impacts that foreclosures are having on individual residents and neighborhoods in Oakland, California, roots the current crisis in the history of housing discrimination, and provides recommendations to help mitigate and prevent further health impacts. Includes original survey data from several Oakland neighborhoods. Produced jointly by Alameda County Public Health Department and Causa Justa::Just Cause.
Life and Death from Unnatural Causes
	Life and Death from Unnatural Causes: Health and Social Inequity in Alameda CountyPublished 2008 This report takes an in-depth look at health inequities and underlying social inequities in Alameda County based on local data. Part One describes the nature and magnitude of health inequities in the county. Part Two describes social inequities and proposes policies to address social inequities - the root causes of health inequities.