Deployment of Health Equity Strike Teams to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities in Arkansas, 2021.

Minority populations have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and disparities have been noted in vaccine uptake. In the state of Arkansas, health equity strike teams (HESTs) were deployed to address vaccine disparities. A total of 13 470 vaccinations were administered by HESTs to 10 047 eligible people at 45 events. Among these individuals, 5645 (56.2%) were African American, 2547 (25.3%) were White, and 1068 (10.6%) were Hispanic. Vaccination efforts must specifically target populations that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(1):29-33. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306564).

Better together: Coalitions committed to advancing health equity.

The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report identifies coalitions as a driving force for advancing health equity. Five coalitions provided insight into their accomplishments, lessons learned, and role in advancing health equity. The exemplar coalitions included Latinx Advocacy Team and Interdisciplinary Network for COVID-19, Black Coalition Against COVID, Camden Coalition, National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations, and The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. While all exemplar coalitions, credited relationship building and partnerships to their success, they used unique strategies for striving to meet their populations' needs, whether the needs arose from COVID-19, racial and/or ethnic disparities, socioeconomic disparities, or other barriers to health. Research and policy implications for coalitions are discussed. Nurses play a critical role in every highlighted coalition and in the national effort to make health and health care more equitable.

Toward a New Strategic Public Health Science for Policy, Practice, Impact, and Health Equity.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its social and health impact have underscored the need for a new strategic science agenda for public health. To optimize public health impact, high-quality strategic science addresses scientific gaps that inform policy and guide practice. At least 6 scientific gaps emerge from the US experience with COVID-19: health equity science, data science and modernization, communication science, policy analysis and translation, scientific collaboration, and climate science. Addressing these areas within a strategic public health science agenda will accelerate achievement of public health goals. Public health leadership and scientists have an unprecedented opportunity to use strategic science to guide a new era of improved and equitable public health.

The Role of a Resilient Information Infrastructure in COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in Ontario.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for a robust and nimble public health data infrastructure. ICES - a government-sponsored, independent, non-profit research institute in Ontario, Canada - functions as a key component of a resilient information infrastructure and an enabler of data co-production, contributing to Ontario's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a learning health system. Linked data on the cumulative incidence of infection and vaccination at the neighbourhood level revealed disparate uptake between areas with low versus high risk of COVID-19. These data were leveraged by the government, service providers, media and the public to inform a more efficient and equitable vaccination strategy.

Equitable Access to Liver Transplant: Bridging the Gaps in the Social Determinants of Health.

The COVID-19 pandemic and social justice movement have highlighted the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) and structural racism in the United States on both access to care and patient outcomes. With the evaluation for liver transplantation being a highly subjective process, there are multiple ways for SDOH to place vulnerable patients at a disadvantage. This policy corner focuses on three different methods to reverse the deleterious effects of SDOH-identify and reduce implicit bias, expand and optimize telemedicine, and improve community outreach.

Addressing COVID-19 vulnerabilities: How do we achieve global health security in an inequitable world.

The spread of the serve acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19, [WHO. (2019). Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it. https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it] and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic is another in a long line of Coronavirus outbreak - and unlikely to be the last. More than a year into the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 has exposed the dangerous hollowness of a global commitment to global health security. Global health security (GHS) has no uncontested definition, and despite ample pandemic warnings (HIV, H1N1, SARS, MERS-CoV, Ebola, Zika) the world, remains woefully unprepared for an adequate pandemic response; its lack of preparation the predicable result of inattention to equity and with it global health security. The first section of this paper lays out the particular challenges of COVID-19 for less well-resourced countries. The second part discusses the inequities being perpetuated and accentuated in the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. The third section discusses ways to address these global inequities and its related complexities. We conclude by restating some of the key priorities for achieving GHS.

New Horizons-Addressing Healthcare Disparities in Endocrine Disease: Bias, Science, and Patient Care.

Unacceptable healthcare disparities in endocrine disease have persisted for decades, and 2021 presents a difficult evolving environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the gross structural inequities that drive health disparities, and antiracism demonstrations remind us that the struggle for human rights continues. Increased public awareness and discussion of disparities present an urgent opportunity to advance health equity. However, it is more complicated to change the behavior of individuals and reform systems because societies are polarized into different factions that increasingly believe, accept, and live different realities. To reduce health disparities, clinicians must (1) truly commit to advancing health equity and intentionally act to reduce health disparities; (2) create a culture of equity by looking inwards for personal bias and outwards for the systemic biases built into their everyday work processes; (3) implement practical individual, organizational, and community interventions that address the root causes of the disparities; and (4) consider their roles in addressing social determinants of health and influencing healthcare payment policy to advance health equity. To care for diverse populations in 2021, clinicians must have self-insight and true understanding of heterogeneous patients, knowledge of evidence-based interventions, ability to adapt messaging and approaches, and facility with systems change and advocacy. Advancing health equity requires both science and art; evidence-based roadmaps and stories that guide the journey to better outcomes, judgment that informs how to change the behavior of patients, providers, communities, organizations, and policymakers, and passion and a moral mission to serve humanity.

COVID-19 pandemic: a unique opportunity to 'build back fairer' and reduce health inequities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Evidence has shown that some of the major causes of health inequities arise from the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, in addition to a wider set of forces and systems shaping individuals' and societies' health and well-being. Such conditions are known as the 'social determinants of health'. However, efforts to address these determinants have remained challenging and unsatisfactory in many parts of the world, including in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Policies to contain the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have further exposed and amplified the existing and even created new dimensions in social and health inequities, as we elaborate further below. Meanwhile, the pandemic offers a unique opportunity to tackle inequities and build back fairer.

Health Inequalities in the Time of COVID-19: The Globally Reinforcing Need to Strengthen Health Inequalities Research Capacities.

The full impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is yet to be well established; however, as the pandemic spreads, and early results emerge, unmet needs are being revealed, and pressing questions are being asked about who is most affected, how, where, and in what ways government responses might be exacerbating inequalities. A number of scholars have called for more in-depth critical research on COVID-19 and health inequalities to produce a strong empirical evidence based on these issues. There are also justifiable concerns about the scarcity of health-equity actions oriented analyses of the situation and calls for more empirical evidence on COVID-19 and health inequalities. A preliminary condition to establish this type of information is strong capacity to conduct health inequalities research. Worldwide, however, this type of capacity is limited, which, alongside other challenges, will likely hinder capacities of many countries to develop comprehensive equity-oriented COVID-19 analyses, and adequate responses to present and future crises. The current pandemic reinforces the pending need to invest in and strengthen these research capacities. These capacities must be supported by widespread recognition and concern, cognitive social capital, and greater commitment to coordinated, transparent action, and responsibility. Otherwise, we will remain inadequately prepared to respond and meet our society's unmet needs.

Digital disparities: designing telemedicine systems with a health equity aim.

The use of telemedicine has grown immensely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine provides a means to deliver clinical care while limiting patient and provider exposure to the COVID-19. As such, telemedicine is finding applications in a variety of clinical environments including primary care and the acute care setting and the array of patient populations who use telemedicine continues to grow. Yet as telehealth becomes ubiquitous, it is critical to consider its potential to exacerbate disparities in care. Challenges accessing technology and digital literacy, for example, disproportionately impact older patients and those living in poverty. When implemented with the consideration of health disparities, telemedicine provides an opportunity to address these inequities. This manuscript explores potential mechanisms by which telemedicine may play a role in exacerbating or ameliorating disparities in care. We further describe a framework and suggested strategies with which to implement telemedicine systems to improve health equity.