Table 1.
Contemporary Health Equity, Disparity, and Inequity Definitions
| Health Equity | Health Disparity | Health Inequity | Determinants of Health |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain the highest level of health possible. | • Preventable differences in disease burden, injury, violence, services, outcomes, or any opportunity to achieve optimal health care by some variable (eg age, race, insurance), which may or may not be clinically justifiable • Often experienced by populations that have been disadvantaged by social or economic status, geographic location, sexuality, language, or environment • Racial and ethnic minorities, women, people in the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and others who do not identify as cisgender or heterosexual (LGBTQI+) community, those with limited English proficiency, and other populations experience health disparities |
• Extends from the definition of health disparity • Any unjust disparity due to implicit or explicit biases at the individual or societal level, historical structures, social mechanisms, or other pressures |
• Social: education, insurance • Economic: personal and generational wealth or poverty • Geographic/Environmental: urban, rural, greenspace, zip code, area deprivation index • Personal: sexual orientation, gender identity • Behavioral: diet, exercise • Biologic: comorbidities, age • Health systems: provider and system bias |