Health Equity - California Health Care Foundation

Health Equity
All Californians should have the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential for health. CHCF is working with a wide range of partners to remove structural barriers to care and build a just and equitable health care system that is designed to redress, not perpetuate, the inequities that too many of our fellow Californians face.

Medi-Cal Quality Strategy Explores Bold Steps Toward Health Equity

January 26, 2022

Christopher Perrone

The strategy will shape how health care will be provided to almost one in three Californians.

In Their Own Words: Black Californians on Racism and Health Care

Linda Cummings, PhD

CHCF commissioned interviews with 100 Black Californians to understand their views on health and well-being, their perceptions of discrimination and bias in the health care system, and their views on what a quality health care system looks like. This report describes the results of Phase I of the three-part Listening to Black Californians study.

CIN Connections, Winter 2022 — Centering Equity in Health Care Improvement

This issue of CIN Connections offers ways to implement quality improvement efforts that intentionally advance health equity in primary care. It summarizes strategies and reflections from national leaders at the CIN partners meeting in November 2021 as they wrestle with addressing health disparities.

Evaluating Medicaid’s Use of Quality Measurement to Achieve Equity Goals

National Committee for Quality Assurance

Health Equity, Medi-Cal

State Medicaid agencies and Medicaid managed care plans are well positioned to advance health equity. CHCF partnered with the National Committee for Quality Assurance to understand the current state of use and application of health equity quality measures among state Medicaid programs.

CalAIM: Why It’s So Much More Than Another New Health Program

December 8, 2021

Medi-Cal, Homelessness & Health Care, Health Equity

While there will be challenges on the journey, the end of the road holds the promise of a more just and compassionate system.

With Superheroes and Songs, El Sol’s Promotores Help Vaccinate Inland Empire

December 3, 2021

Workforce, Health Equity

Community health workers have devoted significant energy to disseminating information about the coronavirus and the vaccines that protect people from it.

Moving the Needle on Black Birth Equity — a Call to Action

November 30, 2021

Stephanie Teleki, Tenesha Duncan, Kindra Montgomery-Block, Lourdes Rodriguez, Monique Shaw

Maternal Health, Health Equity

The philanthropy community has an urgent responsibility to address the structural factors leading to birth inequities.

Health Affairs Explores Mental Health Link to Birth Outcomes

November 22, 2021

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Behavioral Health, Health Equity, Maternal Health

Stories That Caught Our Attention: The health policy journal Health Affairs published a special issue featuring important perinatal mental health data and analysis.

Educating Perinatal Providers on Implicit Bias and Reproductive Justice

Maternal Health, Health Equity

California Senate Bill 464 aims to reduce pregnancy-related preventable deaths, severe illnesses, and associated health disparities. To help perinatal care providers comply with the law, CHCF supported the development of a free e-learning course that explicitly addresses the requirements of SB 464.

CIN Resource Page: Centering Equity in Quality Improvement

This California Improvement Network resource page provides curated tools to better understand how to integrate equity into care improvement initiatives.

The Pressing Need for Public Health Investment

November 8, 2021

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Stories That Caught Our Attention: California's public health infrastructure required shoring up even before COVID-19 hammered county and state public health systems.

Advancing Black Health Equity

Health Equity, Workforce

CHCF is working with partners to understand the health care experiences of Black Californians and to reform the system to be more responsive to and effective at meeting their needs.

How Doctors in South LA County Increase Patients’ COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence

November 2, 2021

Aisling Carroll

Health Equity, Workforce

Uncertain patients can change their minds if they feel understood and hear the right emotion in a doctor's voice, according to physicians on the front lines.

Improving Birth Equity in California’s Health Care System

Maternal Health, Health Equity

Improving Birth Equity in California's Health Care System is a quality-improvement initiative designed to improve birth care, experiences, and outcomes for, by, and with Black mothers and birthing people in California.

Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity in California — Almanac Collection

All Californians should have access to the high-quality health care they need to lead a long and healthy life. Achieving this requires reducing disparities in health and the social determinants that affect historically excluded or marginalized groups. The Almanac reports in this collection look at health disparities by race and ethnicity in California.