Training

A Commitment to Advancing Health Equity
Equity Illustration

Course Objective

  • The strengths of the place-based approach as a means to achieve health equity
  • The responsibility of a public health practitioner in acknowledging and addressing the underlying causes as to why health inequalities persist
  • The importance of neighborhood health planning to advance equity

Date: August 4, 2015

Reviewed June 30, 2020

Presenter:
Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH
Deputy Commissioner and Founding Director
Center for Health Equity at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)


Dr. Aletha Maybank discusses the Center for Health Equity’s revitalization of a de-centralized, multi-level, “inside-outside” approach to addressing health inequities in New York City. She suggests that collaboration between city government agencies and community advocates groups may help tackle racism as well as a variety of social justice and health issues created and exacerbated by residential segregation. In a large city like New York, community involvement and partnership between existing district health center hubs with the Department of Health may help to address root causes of health equity gaps and reduce redundancy in services.

Region 2 Public Health Training Center