The EquiCare Toolkit offers up-to-date research, resources, tools, and strategies to help practitioners, consultants, administrators, managers, educators, researchers, and students take action to advance health equity and maximize positive health outcomes in Integrated Primary Care.
Toolkit Topics covered inform the implementation of a primary care health equity strategy that prioritizes antiracism, diversity, and inclusion in program and service design, addresses social determinants of health, employs evidence-supported tools and interventions, conducts staff training to enhance cultural responsiveness, forms community partnerships, advocates for policy changes, and more.
About the EquiCare Toolkit
The EquiCare Toolkit was developed by the Health Equity Subcommittee of the Society for Health Psychology’s Integrated Primary Care Interest Group. Its content and design were collaboratively contributed by Barbara Ward-Zimmerman; PhD, Jan T. Mooney, PhD; Gabriela Gibson-Lopez, PsyD, LPC-S; Maria Anastasiades, PsyD; Rachel Chickerella, PhD; Yajaira Johnson-Esparza, PhD; Danika Perry, PsyD; Emily M. Selby-Nelson, PsyD; Zara Khan, M.A., and Stephanie Brown, with support from the Society for Health Psychology.
This toolkit aims to advance health equity and reduce health disparities, with a specific focus on identifying and addressing clinical practices, system and programmatic infrastructures, and policies that contribute to the dismantling of inequities and the fostering of positive health outcomes among marginalized communities and populations. Our vision is a healthcare system free from racism and bias, where patients receive high-quality, accessible, and timely care from a diverse workforce that values their partnership and respects their culture.
Specifically, the toolkit is intended to encourage enhancement and expansion of the strengths that already exist in a system as well as encourage integrated behavioral health providers to identify areas where they can offer support and assistance in meeting the ever-evolving practice goals. Enhancements in providing culturally effective care may support patient-centered medical home recognition, national and state cultural and linguistic competency standards, and the achievement of quality benchmarks that are increasingly tied to primary care payment.