Communities experiencing the greatest health inequities often have the least power to influence the institutions, decisions, and resource allocations that significantly impact health outcomes. Health equity approaches should consider power and community leadership, especially by those most affected by inequities, in the co-creation of conditions in which people can reach their full health potential. This training situates power in a health equity framework, describes authentic community engagement and community power building practices, and provides examples of how partnerships grounded in a health equity approach can advance policy and systems changes to promote health. Participants will be introduced to community power mapping tools to help inform partnership development and strategies for building and shifting power.

Presenter

Paula Tran Inzeo, MPH
Program Director
Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH)
University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Define health equity and discuss the components of a health equity framework;
• Explain how power fits into a health equity framework and the role of power building in strategies for advancing health equity;
• Recognize the practice of authentic community engagement and community power building;
• Examine partnerships with power building organizations; and
• Diagram the power of stakeholders and interpret how this diagram informs strategies to advance health equity.

Session Materials