Research Finds That Many Health Care System Employees Are Uncertain About The Meaning Of 'health Equity'

At a large hospital system in Atlanta , less than a quarter of employees were able to identify fairness and equity in health care, according to a study published in the Journal of Healthcare Management .

According to a report by Melissa Ulling, MD, knowledge deficits are evident even when hospitals participate in projects to improve health equity. candidate in the Department of Sociology at Emory University and his colleagues under the direction of Drs. Yolanda Wimberly, director of health equity at Grady Health System in Atlanta. "We predicted that management and administrative-level employees would generally have higher levels of understanding, but the results did not support this hypothesis," the researchers wrote.

Few contributors have been able to articulate a definition of health equity that is consistent with research-based concepts.

As part of a larger health equity study, the Office of Health Equity conducted 28 structured focus groups with Grady Health System employees. Grady is a safety net hospital, meaning most of its patients are uninsured or underinsured. Additionally, the communities it serves are predominantly comprised of underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities.

A total of 233 employees took part in the focus groups. Black employees represented 58% of participants, white employees 30%, and members of other races 12%. More than half of the participants (59%) were physicians or middle managers/supervisors; the rest are at the director level and above. The majority (62%) have worked in "Cities" for at least five years.

Staff were first asked to define fairness, equity, and health equity. They anonymously typed the answers on their personal phones and then analyzed them in special software. The researchers defined a "true" definition of health equity as one that recognizes the importance of identifying individual needs and tailoring treatment to achieve equity.

Of the 191 participants whose responses were analyzed, only 20% correctly identified equity and only 23% correctly identified health equity. No correlation was found in the way the questions were answered between position and length of service in the health care system.

Conceptual knowledge also does not indicate an understanding of how health equity can be realized.

For a qualitative analysis, the same focus group participants were asked to describe health management advancements they were aware of at Grady. Among the main categories identified are: community presence and collaboration, diversity of staff and employment, providing assistance to all who need it, and special programs.

Interestingly, no relationship was found between the ability to correctly define health equity and the ability to report the success of hospitals belonging to a particular category.

"Before beginning work on health equity in and for health systems, it is important to define what health equity means for health system employees at all levels and roles in the organization," the authors urge. “Health system staff, managers, or leaders cannot act on the basis of health equity if their perceptions of health equity are unclear. »

Learn more: Melissa Uehling et al, Advancing Equity in the US Hospital System: Employee Understanding of Health Equity and Steps to Improve it, Journal of Health Services Management (2023). DOI: 10.1097/JHM-D-22-00187

Citation : Study finds many health professionals don't know what 'health equity' means (September 12, 2023) Retrieved September 17, 2023, from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023- 09-health-employees- uncertain-justice. HTML

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