RESPCCT Regional Recruitment Coordinators Resources

What is Health Equity?

Health Equity means that ALL members of the community have opportunities to be healthy and receive quality care that is fair and appropriate to their needs, no matter where they live, what they have or who they are (Health Quality Ontario, 2018).

Equity doesn’t mean Equality

Equality means that everyone is treated the same regardless of their needs or circumstances. However, treating everyone equally doesn’t mean that every person has the same opportunities to maintain optimal health.

Equity takes into consideration that some groups in our community face additional obstacles and barriers and require more supports to achieve the same level of health as others. Barriers may include low income, low literacy skills, limited access to healthy food, unsafe housing or limited access to reliable transportation.

In order to improve health and well-being for all people, we must first ensure everyone has the basics to be healthy. Thinking that the same approach will work universally to improve health is assuming everyone has those basics. Equity involves trying to understand and give people what they need – so that people are able to reach higher levels of health and live full, healthy lives. Equality in contrast, aims to ensure that everyone gets the same things.

Ontario Health Quality Ontario. (2018). Health quality Ontario’s health equity plan. Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved at http://www.hqontario.ca/portals/0/documents/health-quality/health_equity_plan_report_en.pdf