Roadmap to Health Equity Planning
The following are suggested steps to help clearly identify goals and strategies for an effective health equity plan for Anne Arundel County.
Identify and detail opportunities for health equity
Data is the basis for making effective change. It can cut through ideological boundaries and illustrate problems and collective solutions. This stage will include a deep data assessment and strategic SWOT analysis that assists with defining goals and creating focused and effective strategies.
Set Goals And Objectives
Setting clear and well-defined goals and objectives is the foundational step towards achieving meaningful and measurable progress. At this crucial stage, the team will define what it aims to accomplish and begin brainstorming activities necessary to reach those goals.
Optimize Partnerships and Community Engagement
Partnerships are crucial to advancing health equity, extending our reach and impact to better meet community and social needs. This stage includes mapping our partnerships and community engagement to understand current strengths and opportunities related to our priority areas.
Create performance measures
Performance measurement and evaluation are key to help understand how well interventions are working, and identify possible improvements. At this stage, the work group will select performance measures to help monitor progress.
Draft final plan and implementation
Each of the previous stages build the information needed for the health equity action plan. At this stage, the workgroup will draft a shareable plan that outlines goals and strategies, timeline for each activity, and measures of progress.
Strategies and Approaches
Identify Opportunities for Health Equity
- Data assessment
- Define and map disparities
- Disaggregate social determinants of health
- SWOT analysis
Set Goals and Objectives
- Define health equity goals
- Develop SMART objectives
- Collect additional data
- Data Walks
Optimize Partnerships and Community Engagement
- Resource assessment
- Survey partner needs
- Equity planning checklist
- Health equity council
Create Performance Measures
- Progress and impact
- Existing data and new metrics
- Collection methods
Draft Final Plan and Implementation
- Goals, objectives, and timeline
- Feedback and dissemination
- Reflection checkpoints
- Accountability measure
Health Equity Implementation from Stories to Data to Action
While health equity planning is underway in accordance with the Anne Arundel County Department of Health’s Strategic Plan for 2023-2025, check here for progress updates, stories, and data.
The fourth strategic imperative in Anne Arundel County Department of Health’s Strategic Plan for 2023-2025 is to Advance Health and Health Equity.
The imperative is as follows:
Achieve optimal health for all county residents by taking a proactive approach to health promotion and recognizing and addressing the structures and conditions in our environment that lead to avoidable health inequities.