Moving Health Equity Forward: Prevention Institute’s A Time of Opportunity and PolicyLink’s America’s Tomorrow

Prevention Institute’s seminal brief A Time of Opportunity: Local Solutions to Reduce Inequities in Health and Safety is now available in print for the first time, featured in the Institute of Medicine’s new publication, State and Local Policy Initiatives to Reduce Health Disparities. The brief was prepared for the Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Health Disparities, and co-authored with Tony Iton during his tenure as Director of the Alameda Department of Public Health.A Time of Opportunity identifies policy solutions at the community, regional and state levels to ensure all communities have equal access to full health. To achieve health equity, we must:

1. Strengthen communities where people live, work, play, socialize, and learn
2. Enhance opportunities within underserved communities to access high-quality, culturally competent health care with an emphasis on community-oriented and preventive services
3. Strengthen the infrastructure of the health system to reduce inequities and enhance the contributions from public health and health care systems
4. Support local efforts through leadership, overarching policies, and through local, state, and national strategy

While the IOM is advancing research, our colleagues at PolicyLink have been building unprecedented momentum for health equity practice by elevating the notion that equity is a superior growth model. On the heels of their successful Equity Summit, PolicyLink has released America’s  Tomorrow, making the case that equity is the key to success in a global economy and linking changing global demographics with opportunities to invest in equity. On PolicyLink’s Health Equity Blog, national health and equity leaders are sharing their thoughts on America’s Tomorrow. We invite you to read responses from authors including The California Endowment’s Bob Ross and Geoff Canada, President and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone; Prevention Institute’s Larry Cohen contributed a post that explains how violence prevention is a central element of an equity strategy.