Equity Blog Post

Have you ever wanted to know the difference between equity and equality? Are they the same thing? Can the terms be used interchangeably? Well here are my thoughts.

The practice of equality, when discussed in terms of healthcare, means allocating the same quality and quantity of a given resource to a community without regard for its needs. To seek equality is to implement a unilateral approach that will likely not have the intended effect and will prove to be a waste of already limited resources. This method may provide unnecessary resources to one community, while depriving another of a greater quantity of the resource. The supports needed in one community may not be effective, or sufficient in another.

Equity means to account for the needs of a given community, while accounting for the resources it needs to thrive and the factors that contribute to disadvantage. The reason we must demand equity and not equality, is because each community must be evaluated individually. The more impoverished a community is, the more resources it will need. Based on the principal of equity, the allocation of resources will be need based, and the result will be that of equality. 

The end goal should be to get each community to the same end point, but not necessarily the by the same means. Every American community should have access to healthcare, educational opportunities, healthy food options and other social determinates of health.