Health inequities have been amplified by the COVID-19 Pandemic across Peel. Individuals from racialized and marginalized communities are suffering, receiving delayed care and dying prematurely. The Anti-Black Racism & Systemic Discrimination Healthcare Collective (ABR&SDHC), a group of community and health service providers from local organizations and individuals committed to meeting the health and social service needs of racialized communities, made a call to action to health system leaders through a position paper, “The Outcomes of Oppressive Systems and a Collective Call to Co-Design an Equitable and Inclusive Health System in Peel”. The paper called on health systems leaders in Peel to join in dialogue about anti-Black racism & systemic discrimination and work towards collectively addressing critical issues including the data and infrastructure gaps that hindered action on the social determinants of health in Peel.
We aim to answer the following question: “How can healthcare and community organizations collectively and safely collect and integrate individual-level data that capture the social determinants of health (SDOH) from across sectors (e.g. health and community organizations) to close critical data gaps needed to address persistent and growing health inequities in Peel?”
Using a community based participatory research (CBPR) approach and the Pulse Lab Jakarta’s Data Asset Mapping Tools, we will hold a series of collaborative sessions to identify the critical enabling factors to operationalize data and infrastructure, focusing on detailing data elements, governance, interpretation, and data stewardship.
This project will overcome the limitations of previous attempts to build critical data needs in Peel. Results will be used to develop new ways to collect, use, and govern data to support health equity that are meaningful and address community needs. The project has the commitment from a diverse group of community and health stakeholders in the region with cross-sector expertise to drive data innovation. The project can be used as a blueprint for novel approaches to establishing population data that can reduce health inequity through collective action.
Partnerships: Indus Community Services, LAMP Community Health Centre , Roots Community Services, University of Toronto