Tools for addressing health inequities

Tugwell, P., O'Connor, A., Andersson, N., Mhatre, S., Kristjansson, E., Jacobsen, M.J., et al. (2006). Reduction of inequalities in health: Assessing evidence-based tools. International Journal for Equity in Health, 5, 11.

Description

This resource reviews five evidence-based tools that address health inequities, particularly for policy decisions.

Steps for Using Method/Tool

The following five tools are reviewed:

  1. Cochrane and Campbell Collaborations: Each a separate tool, these collaborations were established to prepare, maintain and promote access to systematic reviews. Methodological issues that arise when incorporating health equity into systematic reviews are increasingly being recognized.

Cochrane: http://www.cochrane.org

Campbell: http://www.campbellcollaboration.org

  1. Decision Aids, Shared Decision-Making and the Health Coach Initiative: These tools help improve the skills of individuals within “disadvantaged” populations so that they too can benefit from the health system. Examples include health coaches, self-care manuals, online health information and decision aids. The concept is that communities receive training to develop their own sustainable decision-making capacities.

Ottawa Patient Decision Aids: http://decisionaid.ohri.ca/decguide.html and http://decisionaid.ohri.ca/AZinvent.php

  1. Community Information and Epidemiological Technologies (CIET): This tool supports health planning at the local level using evidence. It follows the Triple-A approach (assessment-analysis-action), formal epidemiology and the community voice in a structured way. Also included is the CIETmap, free geomatics and epidemiology software to enable evidence-based health planning. The CIET cycle and method has been applied in 47 countries worldwide on topics such as access to health care services, gender gap in education, food security and the prevention of sexual violence and corruption.

CIET: http://www.ciet.org

  1. Ottawa Equity Gauge: This Canadian project is based on the framework by the Global Equity Gauge Alliance. The project framework is represented by four pillars: equity needs (i.e., assessment and monitoring), interventions, community empowerment and advocacy. It aims to couple data collection with coordinated community-driven actions and advocacy.
  1. The Needs-Based Health Assessment Toolkit: This tool uses the Technology Assessment Iterative Loop (TAIL) as an overall framework to make clinical and health policy decisions regarding technologies. Selecting health interventions is guided by a set of tools that are focused on health needs assessment; priority setting and needs-based technology assessment; community effectiveness; cost-effectiveness; and policy, strategy and management. The final step involves monitoring the impact.

These summaries are written by the NCCMT to condense and to provide an overview of the resources listed in the Registry of Methods and Tools and to give suggestions for their use in a public health context. For more information on individual methods and tools included in the review, please consult the authors/developers of the original resources.

We have provided the resources and links as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by McMaster University of any of the products, services or opinions of the external organizations, nor have the external organizations endorsed their resources and links as provided by McMaster University. McMaster University bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external sites.

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