5 Measuring and Addressing Health Inequities Free Online FlashCards

What makes a health difference an inequity?

Health inequities are avoidable and unfair differences in health and in the conditions that shape health.

How should measurement choices reflect a health equity question?

Choose indicators that reflect the issue, such as social conditions, access to care, or health outcomes, and disaggregate results by relevant groups.

Why examine outcomes across combined group characteristics?

Examining combined characteristics, such as race and rural residence, can reveal patterns hidden by single-category comparisons. Define groups carefully and protect privacy, especially for small populations.

What is one important limitation of clinical records for equity measurement?

Clinical records describe people who accessed services, not everyone who needed care; surveys may also omit people who are difficult to reach.

What does an absolute difference measure?

It is the difference between two group rates, calculated by subtracting one rate from the other. It retains the indicator’s units, such as percentage points.

How is a rate ratio calculated, and what does $1$ signify?

It is one group’s rate divided by another group’s rate. A ratio of $1$ indicates equal rates; values above or below $1$ indicate the direction and relative size of the difference.

Why use absolute and relative disparity measures together?

Absolute gaps show the scale of unmet need, while relative measures show the size of a difference in proportion to the comparison rate. Together they give complementary perspectives.

What should be checked when a disparity narrows over time?

A narrowing gap does not necessarily mean parity. Report group-specific rates because a gap may shrink when the less-served group improves, the better-served group worsens, or both change.

What should an evaluation strategy specify before measuring results?

Describe the problem, affected people, proposed strategy, and expected pathway to improved health or reduced inequity. Make the pathway’s assumptions explicit so evaluation can test them.

What does process evaluation examine?

Process evaluation examines how a strategy was implemented, whom it reached, and what barriers affected delivery.

What can outcome evaluation show—and what can it not establish by itself?

Outcome evaluation measures whether intended changes occurred, but by itself cannot establish that the strategy caused them.

What distinguishes impact evaluation from measuring outcomes alone?

Impact evaluation compares outcomes with a credible estimate of what would have happened without the strategy. Comparison groups or before-and-after trends may help when random assignment is not feasible.