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Health Equity Office

The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County’s Healthy Equity Office was established in July 2021 and will housed under the Office of Community Health and Planning. This office will serve as an innovative approach to addressing health equity and identified barriers for underserved and minority communities in Miami-Dade. This office will also guide addressing COVID-19 among communities at higher risk and that are underserved.

The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County (FDOH-MDC) was awarded the National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved, Including Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations and Rural Communities grant in June 2021. The FDOH-MDC will further expand and promote health equity through its grant funding. This program is composed of four overarching strategies that aim to both address disparities in the current COVID-19 pandemic and set the foundation to address future responses.

The goals of the Health Equity Office will be to work through the four domains of the Chronic Disease Prevention framework, which sets the foundation and guides the work of the Health Equity Office. The framework domains include:

  • Epidemiology and Surveillance which provide data insights that can be used to educate decision makers.

  • Environmental Approaches to create policies that change the context and make healthy lifestyles easier.

  • Health Care System Interventions such as the Affordable Care Act, governmental and community public health organizations.

  • Community Programs Linked to Clinical Services that increase the use of effective community interventions.

The Equity Office Advisory Committee, under the Health Equity Office, will working on policy, system, and environmental changes to address the social determinants of health. These are the factors and conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality of life outcomes and risks. The social determinants of health can be grouped into five domains.

  • Economic Stability: This domain focuses on the connection between the financial resources people have and their health. According to Healthy People 2030, in the United States, 1 in 10 people live in poverty. Many people can’t afford necessities like healthy foods, health care, and affordable housing.

  • Education Access and Quality: This domain highlights the connection of education to health and wellbeing. Under this domain we will work to increase educational opportunities and help children and adolescents achieve educational goals.

  • Health Care Access and Quality: This domain highlights the connection between people's access to and understanding of health services. Many people do not receive the health care services they need. Like Healthy People 2030, in Miami-Dade County we will focus on improving the health by helping people get timely, high-quality health care services.

  • Neighborhood and Built Environment: This domain focuses on the connection between where a person lives and their wellbeing. The neighborhoods people live in have a major impact on their health and well-being.

  • Social and Community Context: This domain emphasizes the connection and focuses on helping people get the social support they need in the places where they live, work, learn, and play. The Health Equity Office Advisory Committee will work to address this domain through interventions that will help people get the social and community support they need are critical for improving health and well-being.