Resources

Health Equity Frameworks and Tools

Working towards health equity is a challenging but crucial task. Public Health Wales is seeking to support you in this work, whatever your role, by compiling a range of national and international tools that have been developed to guide this work in different contexts.

Public Health Wales has published an overview of 22 health equity frameworks and tools to support governments, organisations, and individuals to work towards health equity. Frameworks and tools were identified through searches of key international and national resources.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: The Commercial Determinants of Health: Children and Young People Report 49

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports were initiated as part of the COVID-19 public health response, to support dynamic response and recovery measures and planning in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports was expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health.
In focus: The Commercial Determinants of Health: Children and Young People

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Reports Summary Calendar April 2023 to March 2024

This summary calendar, the fourth to be published, presents a short and interactive overview of the five International Horizon Scanning Reports from 2023-2024, with themes including:

• Universal primary free school meals
• Mental health and well-being of refugees and asylum-seekers
• Five essential conditions for health equity
• Embedding prevention in primary and community care
• Impact of poverty on babies, children and young people

Charter for International Health Partnerships in Wales: An Implementation Toolkit

A toolkit is available to staff whose work involves international health and working with global stakeholders. The implementation toolkit helps staff in Health Boards and NHS Trusts translate the Charter for International Health Partnerships in Wales into operational practices.

Equity in Action: Advancing LGBTQIA+ Health in Wales

Despite advancements in societal acceptance and legal rights, LGBTQIA+ individuals continue to face significant disparities in mental health, sexual health, and healthcare access. Health inequalities among the LGBTQIA+ communities in Wales present a pressing challenge.

This blog describes the challenges experienced by the LGBTQIA+ communities in Wales regarding health and social care. It features strategic policies that are making difference, ensuring fair health access for all. The blog also highlights transformative efforts that are not only reshaping public health but also setting precedents for inclusivity across the nation.

International Health Newsletter Issue 3: May 2024

The International Health Coordination Centre’s (IHCC) International Health Newsletter promotes and shares international news, events and initiatives with partners across Wales and beyond.

The newsletter was piloted in May 2023, thereon issued quarterly.

View the latest issue here.

Social and Economic determinants of gender equity: Strategies for a prosperous future for women in Wales

The Welsh Health Equity Status Report initiative (WHESRi) has published a spotlight feature blog to commemorate International Women’s Day. This spotlight feature focuses on gender equity in Wales, emphasizing the social and economic determinants impacting women’s well-being. It highlights persistent gender inequalities across various spheres, including health, employment, and violence, exacerbated by factors like race, disability, and economic status. To address Addressing these challenges requires gender-responsive policies, gender-inclusive budgeting, and an Economy of Well-being framework to promote positive outcomes and empower women towards a healthier and more prosperous future in Wales.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: Impact of Poverty on Babies Children and Young People Report 48

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports were initiated as part of the COVID-19 public health response, to support dynamic response and recovery measures and planning in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports was expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health.
In focus: Impact of Poverty on Babies, Children and Young People

Influencing the Health Gap: Multi-Country Perspectives

The Welsh Health Equity Status Report initiative (WHESRi) has updated a spotlight feature blog on the innovative decomposition analysis methodology. This now includes the addition on a summary report on a multi-country webinar, with insights from Wales, Italy and Slovenia. The webinar was a solutions-focused session which explored how the application of the decomposition analysis methodology has generated insights into the drivers of health inequalities.

A key finding of the webinar was the need to strengthen the case for investing in well-being and health equity in Wales and beyond through policies and solution-based actions that were identified throughout the webinar.

The Social Return on Investment of Physical Activity and Nutrition Interventions – a Scoping Review

Scarcity of resources for public health and mounting pressures on health systems such as the Covid-19 pandemic, make it vital to evaluate public health interventions and move away from traditional evaluation methods. This is important to understand not just the financial value of public health interventions, but also the wider social, environmental and economic value. This review aims to present the existing evidence base on the Social Return on Investment of physical activity and nutrition interventions, demonstrating the wider social and environmental benefits of these interventions.

International Health Newsletter Issue 2: January 2024

The International Health Coordination Centre’s (IHCC) International Health Newsletter promotes and shares international news, events and initiatives with partners across Wales and beyond.

The newsletter was piloted in May 2023, thereon issued quarterly.

View the latest issue here.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: Embedding Prevention in Primary and Community Care Report 47

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports were initiated as part of the COVID-19 public health response, to support dynamic response and recovery measures and planning in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports was expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health.
In focus: Embedding Prevention in Primary and Community Care

Advancing the Social Return on Investment Framework to Capture the Social Value of Public Health Interventions

Investment in public health has far-reaching impacts, not only on physical health but also on communities, economies, and the environment. There is increasing demand to account for the wider impact of public health and the social value that can be created, which can be captured through the use of the social return on investment (SROI) framework. This study aims to explore the application of SROI and identify areas of advancement for its use in public health.

New Solutions Platform Spotlight Feature on Improving Health Equity by Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

The Welsh Health Equity Solutions Platform (WHESP) has published a new Spotlight Feature, highlighting solutions focused action to address health inequities. This spotlight feature focuses on ‘Children and the cost of living crisis in Wales: How children’s health and well-being are impacted and areas for action’.

Evidence shows the cost of living crisis is compounding the impacts of child poverty on children’s development now, and their outcomes in later life. Public Health Wales’s analysis identified 11 priority areas for action to reduce the impact of child poverty and the cost of living crisis on health inequity among children in Wales, both now and into the longer term.

Public Health Wales hopes that this analysis can help inform the development of Welsh Government’s revised Child Poverty Strategy for Wales and provides a framework for prioritising the health and well-being of children during this time of crisis while also setting a course for a healthier and more equal future for Wales.

Public Health Wales: Our International Health Strategy 2023-2035

Public Health Wales has updated its 2017 International Health Strategy to better reflect the significant changes in the global landscape and to enable Public Health Wales’ new Long-Term Strategy.