Advocacy for Health Equity in Prevention Science

STRATEGIC PLAN: GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, 2024 – 2028

Goal 1: Promote Health Equity in Prevention Science (view full strategic plan)

  1. Promote etiological and intervention research addressing health equity.
  2. Promote the equitable inclusion of diverse groups in etiological and intervention research, in terms of role (funder, researcher, practitioners), race/ethnicity, international work, and methodological expertise (quantitative and qualitative).
  3. Promote research to develop multilevel and multi-sectorial interventions that address the micro-, meso-, and macro-level social determinants of disparities and structural oppressions and develop principles for their implementation.

STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS IN PREVENTIVE INTERVENTION RESEARCH TO ADVANCE HEALTH EQUITY  

Boyd, R.C., Castro, F.G., Finigan-Carr, N. et al. Strategic Directions in Preventive Intervention Research to Advance Health Equity. Prev Sci (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01462-5

As commissioned by the Society for Prevention Research, this paper describes and illustrates strategic approaches for reducing health inequities and advancing health equity when adopting an equity-focused approach for applying prevention science evidence-based theory, methodologies, and practices. We introduce an ecosystemic framework as a guide for analyzing, designing, and planning innovative equity-focused evidence-based preventive interventions designed to attain intended health equity outcomes. To advance this process, we introduce a health equity statement for conducting integrative analyses of ecosystemic framework pathways, by describing the role of social determinants, mechanisms, and interventions as factors directly linked to specific health equity outcomes. As background, we present health equity constructs, theories, and research evidence which can inform the design and development of equity-focused intervention approaches. We also describe multi-level interventions that when coordinated can produce synergistic intervention effects across macro, meso, and micro ecological levels. Under this approach, we encourage prevention and implementation scientists to apply and extend these strategic directions in future research to increase our evidence-based knowledge and theory building. A general goal is to apply prevention science knowledge to design, widely disseminate, and implement culturally grounded interventions that incrementally attain specific HE outcomes and an intended HE goal. We conclude with recommendations for conducting equity-focused prevention science research, interventions, and training.

ACHIEVING HEALTH EQUITY THROUGH PREVENTION SCIENCE (view page)

The Society for Prevention Research recognizes that professionals need to be strategic in our approaches to advancing health equity in prevention science theory, methods, and practices. We have introduced an ecosystemic framework as a guide. In this research brief, we present a snapshot of the ecosystemic framework and encourage practitioners to apply it to their work towards equity-focused interventions. Further details are available in the 2023 Prevention Science article, “Strategic Directions in Preventive Intervention Research to Advance Health Equity.”