SHERC CEC Regional Health Equity Survey Report

The 2020 Regional Health Equity Survey Report (RHES) is a report developed from a survey of 200 Arizona county-level leaders from various sectors who shared their knowledge, attitudes and actions on health equity with researchers from the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative (SHERC) Community Engagement Core (CEC).

Leaders answered in-depth survey questions that addressed the social, environmental, and economic conditions that impact the health and wellbeing of the communities they serve.

Composed of 48 questions, the RHES covers topics related to:

• Distribution of resources in the communities served
• Personal understanding of social determinants of health organizational capacity to address health inequities
• Extent and focus of cross-sectoral partnerships
• Use of data in decision making
• The role of research in addressing health inequalities in the community

The leaders who answered the survey recommended the following strategies to advance equity in northern Arizona:

• Build community knowledge and capacity
• Develop economic, workforce and infrastructure
• Activate collaboration and partnerships
• Establish referral and resource systems
• Provide direct services
• Ensure flexible, fair and equitable access to health and health services
• Conduct community outreach and engagement
• Engage in advocacy and policy change
• Be culturally and community responsive
• Utilize evidence-based practices

The RHES has three primary community-university benefits:

• Establish a baseline of regional organizational capacity to advance health equity
• Produce local reports to support strategic planning
• Inform and align NAU research, evaluation, training and policy efforts with community-identified equity issues