+
Erica is a new public health nurse (PHN) in a large urban county where 40% of the children live in poverty. During Erica's home visit to a young family, the mother stated that the 2- and 3-year-old children had become “slow to get things and were tripping and falling more than usual.” A year ago, the family had moved from a newer apartment building into a 70-year-old building when the woman's husband lost his job. Erica notices paint chips on the floor and is concerned that they are from lead-based paint. She advises the mother to have her children's blood lead levels checked. The mother says she has no health insurance and cannot afford a trip to the doctor. Erica tells the mother the paint should be replaced, but the mother is concerned that the landlord will not listen to her. Erica consults with her public health nursing supervisor to see what else can be done.
++
ERICA'S NOTEBOOK Competency #11 Shows Evidence of Commitment to Social Justice, the Greater Good, Reducing Racial and Health Disparities, and Increasing Health Equity
Applies principles of social justice to promote and maintain the health and well-being of populations
Understands the impact of the social determinants of health on vulnerable and at-risk populations
Advocates for the disadvantaged and underserved
Participates in collaborative social actions to reduce health disparities and inequities
Source: Henry Street Consortium, 2022
USEFUL DEFINITIONS Advocacy: Actions to ensure that individuals or populations have basic human rights and justice—the act of promoting and protecting the health of individuals and communities “by collaborating with relevant stakeholders, facilitating access to health and social services, and actively engaging key decision-makers to support and enact policies to improve community health outcomes” (Ezeonwu, 2015, p. 123; Minnesota Department of Health [MDH], 2019).
Discrimination: A socially structured action that is unfair or unjustified and harms individuals and groups. Discrimination can be attributed to social interactions that occur to protect more powerful and privileged groups to the detriment of other groups. It is a social stressor that has a physiological effect on individuals that can be compounded over time and can lead to long-term negative health outcomes (US Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 2021a).
Ethnicity: A collective group of individuals with presumed common ancestry sharing cultural symbols and practices. Individual identification of ethnicity may be voluntary and self-defined (Ford & Harawa, 2010; Lee, 2009).
Global Majority: A collective term that refers to people who are Black, Asian, Brown, Latino, Hispanic, or indigenous and who have been racialized as “ethnic minorities” when in fact they are part of the larger global majority (Campbell-Stephens, 2020).
Health Disparities: Preventable population-specific differences in health and disease (incidence and prevalence), health outcomes, or access to care that place some populations at greater risk than others that are primarily the result of the social determinants of health (SDOH).
Health Equity: “When every person ...