The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services launches the Health Equity Institute.
The Health Equity Institute of Delaware’s primary goal is to train current and future generations of clinicians and public health professionals to be grounded in health equity.
DHSS Medical Director Awele Madukah-Ezeh says while the Institute is just now launching, the search for partners has been ongoing.
“We have reached out to our local hospitals that have residency programs, we also reached out to our local universities, because we can’t train these people alone," Madukah-Ezeh says. "For some of them, they have to send us their trainees or their students, and for some of them they are going to serve as sites where we will send our folks to get a very robust experience as far as health equity is concerned.”
Additional partners include other state agencies and community organizations – Madukah-Ezeh emphasizing that to solve the state’s health inequities, the Institute needs to break down silos.
Divison of Public Health Deputy Director and Chief Health Equity Officer Tesha Quail notes a summer pilot program is already underway to teach high school students the basics of social determinants of health in health equity.
“So we’re just trying to catch them as early as possible, teach them as early as possible," Quail says. "So when they are doing the work, they are intentionally thinking, like it’s second nature, thinking about health equity. They are constantly looking at health equity, social determinants of health, as well as the vital conditions.”
Many social determinants of health are connected to health equity like location, living situations, finances, and education.
While the basics of health equity are already included in initial training for public health staff, HEIDE will help to localize those ideas and dive deeper into how Delawareans are affected by health inequities.
Potential projects could include climate change and extreme heat planning, sexual and reproductive healthcare assessments, and navigating complexities of medical care for previously incarcerated individuals.
The Institute will also lead research on Delaware-specific health equity to help inform state action and national discourse and monitor the effectiveness of health equity projects over time.
