All people should have the opportunity to attain their highest level of health.
Factors like access to educational, economic, and job opportunities; access to health care services; transportation; social norms; and socioeconomic conditions all impact someone’s health. NCAH’s policy priorities aim to address these social determinants of health to reduce health disparities, prevent chronic disease, and promote health for all North Carolinians.
Priorities
- Support policies and appropriations for closing the health insurance coverage gap
- Support policies that reduce inequities and barriers to health, including housing, transportation, and equitable pay and leave policies
- Support policies that maintain and restore local control
NCAH may also support other mission-related policies as they arise.
Want more information? Health equity resources can be found here.
Health Equity
Everyone deserves the opportunity to attain their highest level of health, supported by systems, environments, and policies that strive to eliminate health disparities. Health equity has significant economic, social, and health impacts, and can only be achieved when no one is disadvantaged from reaching their full health potential because of any socially defined circumstance.
The Goal
NCAH supports policies and funding structures that work to eliminate health disparities and that are accountable to the communities experiencing inequitable health outcomes. These policies include closing the health insurance coverage gap and policies that address the social determinants of health, such as housing and transportation.
Our Progress
NCAH is working with partners to close the health insurance coverage gap in North Carolina. NCAH is also monitoring opportunities to engage in other campaigns addressing the social determinants of health.
We use a healthy equity lens for all of our work. Here are a few examples of our health equity work in action.
HNC 2030
NCAH is proud to participate in the Healthy North Carolina 2030 project, which brings together experts and leaders from multiple fields to inform the development of a common set of public health indicators and targets for the state over the next decade. These indicators will serve as the population health improvement plan for the North Carolina Division of Public Health. With a focus on health equity and the overall drivers of health outcomes (health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment), these indicators and targets will help drive state and local-level activities, provide a springboard for collaboration and innovation, and develop a new vision for public health in our state to improve the health and well-being of all people of North Carolina.
Voices of Hunger
NCAH is working with MomsRising to capture stories from people experiencing hunger and working to address food insecurity in North Carolina with the Voices of Hunger in North Carolina podcast.
Health Literacy
All North Carolinians should have the ability to obtain and understand health information. Health literacy and numeracy are vital for individuals to make decisions that have positive health outcomes. NCAH supports increasing access to reliable health information where people gather, such as in public libraries and schools.