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Objective: Organizational health equity capacity assessments (OCAs) provide a valuable starting point to understand and strengthen an organization's readiness and capacity for health equity. We conducted a scoping review to identify and characterize existing OCAs. Methods: We searched the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases and practitioner websites to identify peer-reviewed and gray literature articles and tools that measure or assess health equity–related capacity in public health organizations. Seventeen OCAs met the inclusion criteria. We organized primary OCA characteristics and implementation evidence and described them thematically according to key categories. Results: All identified OCAs assessed organizational readiness or capacity for health equity, and many aimed to guide health equity capacity development. The OCAs differed in regard to thematic focus, structure, and intended audience. Implementation evidence was limited. Conclusions: By providing a synthesis of OCAs, these findings can assist public health organizations in selecting and implementing OCAs to assess, strengthen, and monitor their internal organizational capacity for health equity. This synthesis also fills a knowledge gap for those who may be considering developing similar tools in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article urges that public health must increase its capacity to recognize, analyze and shift the balance in power relations to advance health and racial equity. Topics discussed include four domains to power according to black feminist sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, things needed to shift the balance in power relations, and structural interventions to improve health in communities.

Most US cities lack built environments that support physical activity, which is a key determinant of health. Making permanent changes to the physical environment to promote physical activity is not always feasible. Play Streets is a place-based intervention that is typically organized by local governments or community organizations and involves temporarily closing streets to create safe places and free opportunities for physical activity. In this descriptive study we examined 162 of Chicago's PlayStreets, held in the summer of 2018, to assess the volume and type of physical activity among youth participants and the variety of services provided to residents. We analyzed implementation data and forms completed after PlayStreets, and we conducted systematic observations at a purposeful sample of PlayStreets. We found that PlayStreets provides opportunities for youth physical activity in areas where opportunities do not otherwise always exist. PlayStreets also provides an avenue for residents to access community resources. This research on Chicago's experience with PlayStreets showed how one city is temporarily turning streets into places for youth physical activity to advance health equity. Local policies that facilitate temporarily closing streets and that provide resources to support opportunities for physical activity and access to community resources can advance health equity in cities nationwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors make the case for the central role of policy in mitigating the public health challenges in the U.S. The authors also propose principles that are essential for policy change and are based on the authors' collective experiences. The three primary categories of legally-binding public policies are legislation, regulation, and litigation. It is said that research evidence in support of policy solutions may be limited for emerging public health problems.

The authors discuss a report on how streets in Chicago, Illinois might serve as safe places for physical activity. Topics mentioned include lack of data on accommodations for the Spanish-speaking population, percentage of PlayStreets in the south region that had police present, and the role of intervention in equitably benefiting communities.

Rehabilitation psychology is based on foundational principles that can guide us toward health equity among disabled and nondisabled communities. We summarize the literature on disparities in the disability community and underscore the urgency to address underlying inequities to eliminate disparities. We include examples of population-level interventions that promote equity in the disability community. We conclude with a call for a broader mission for rehabilitation psychologists based on the field's foundational principles, and outline emerging opportunities to widen our impact and advance equity. Our foundational principles, built on systems theory, call on rehabilitation psychologist to work at macrosystemic levels. As rehabilitation psychologists, we need to widen our focus from the micro (individual) to the macro (population) level. We need to bring the respect, dignity, and collaborative spirit that inspire our work with individuals to the broader community by advocating for structures and policies that promote equity for disabled persons. Impact and Implications: This article underscores the existing health disparities, and influence of inequities, among people with disabilities and chronic health conditions; informs readers about the inherent social justice nature of rehabilitation psychology's foundational principles, which can guide the field in promoting equity among individuals with disabilities and chronic conditions; and recommends that we, as rehabilitation psychologists, broaden our focus from the micro (individual) to the macro (population) level by joining our approaches with the field of public health to promote equity among a wider group of disabled persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]