Health Equity
Health equity is woven into everything that the Toronto Central LHIN does. This commitment to health equity extends from our Board throughout the organization. The LHIN recognizes that the only way to achieve a healthier community and an affordable health care system for all is by addressing disparities in access to needed health care services for poor and marginalized individuals.
Agrowing body of evidence shows that disadvantaged and marginalized people have both the greatest health care needs and the worst health outcomes.
The statistics are striking:
The incidence of diabetes is twice as high in low income versus high income neighbourhoods;
Immigrant to Canada are more likely to have cardiovascular disease which is worsened by language and other barriers to getting appropriate health care in addition to lifestyle, diet and other factors related to stress if settling into a new country;
More low income people are living with pain and disability because they are receiving 60 per cent fewer hip replacements than people with higher incomes.
View: Diversity At A Glance: Neighbourhood Profiles:
The following are some of the activities the Toronto Central LHIN has undertaken to address the issue of Health Equity in our community.
All Toronto Central LHIN hospitals completed their first equity plans in February 2009. A number of LHIN-funded projects have been initiated in response to the hospital plans, including streamlined and coordinated interpretation services, equity-relevant data collection and providing services for uninsured people.
In June 2010, hospitals were asked to refresh their plans and to include in their plans specific detail on how equity issues are being incorporated into hospital planning processes and/or service delivery, particularly with respect to concrete commitments moving forward.
Toronto Central LHIN expects that this process will further advance building equity into hospital decision-making, planning and service delivery, and contribute to analyzing and advancing system-wide equity priorities.
In April 2010, Toronto Central LHIN and the Hospital Collaborative on Marginalized Populations presented at the 18th International Conference on Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services - Tackling Causes and Consequences of Inequalities in Health: Contributions of Health Services and the HPH Network.
Healthy Connections 2010: Self-Managing Care Conference.
The Toronto Central LHIN was pleased to support this one day conference which follows up from the extremely successful Healthy Connections 2008 conference.
In 2008/09, the Toronto Central LHIN worked with the Hospital Collaborative on Marginalized Populations drawn from the LHIN’s 18 hospitals to develop Hospital Health Equity Plans. This is the first time hospitals in the Toronto Central LHIN and, in fact, anywhere in Ontario, has been asked to document their equity challenges, gaps, practices and improvement plans.
The Toronto Central LHIN partnered with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Health Equity Branch to develop a Health Equity Impact Assessment Tool, including the Health Equity Impact Assessment Tool and the Health Equity Impact Assessment Workbook , that can be used by the LHIN and health service providers to assess the impact of decisions and investments on different populations.
In July 2008, Bob Gardner, Director of Healthcare Reform and Public Policy for the Wellesley Institute, submitted a Health Equity Discussion Paper and Executive Summary for the Toronto Central LHIN that sets out key actions to promote health and equity.
In June 2008, Healthy Connections Conference, sponsored by the Toronto Central LHIN, brought together front-line workers, administrators, policy-makers, consumers and families to learn about the realities of health inequity as well as strategies for creating more inclusive and just local health care system.