Economic Inequality
Economic inequality is the unequal distribution of income and opportunity between different groups in society, it’s also a public health crisis.
Economic inequality leads to inequalities in standards of living, education, health, and nutrition, even in life expectancy. Below are a few resources to help us understand the role of income inequality on public health.
One of the leading organizations in health equity, they publish regular reports and offer resources for interrupting economic disparity that drives health inequities.
This report from the US Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion gives a broad overview of the way food insecurity impacts health equity.
This blog post from Center for Health Progress gives a powerful view into the relationship between housing and health.
This series has some great insight into how health care access is an obvious driver of health inequities across Colorado.
This resource discusses life at the federal poverty level as a starting point for understanding how income inequality impacts our ability to achieve health equity.
What this looks like in the Silver Thread Public Health District
We are committed to eliminating barriers to health and wellness for all and empowering our community to live a healthy life through education, support, and access. We run numerous programs to help everyone in our community get access to the health care, childcare, nutritious food, support, and aid they need to live a full, healthy life.
While public health isn't able to address the root causes of income inequality in our societies, we host a number of programs from our food banks, to providing links to community members with social services that are working to reduce the impacts of economic inequality.