Health Equity in HIV

Overview

To advance equity efforts, DHP established an internal workgroup composed of representatives from every office and branch, known as the DHP Equity Change Team (Change Team). The Change Team (led by DHP's Office of Health Equity) developed the DHP Equity Plan, which identifies strategic approaches and implementation activities designed to increase equity through DHP public health programs and in DHP's work environment.

The DHP Equity Plan focuses on three key areas:

• Workplace culture;
• Workplace policies and procedures; and
• Research, policy, programs, and partnerships.

Within each focus area, the DHP Equity Plan defines high-level equity goals, associated objectives, activities, responsible entities, and estimated start and end dates for each activity. Individual office and branch equity workplans describe the unit-specific equity work being carried out within DHP and complement the DHP Equity Plan.

Vision and charge

Vision

To make DHP an organization that prioritizes and embeds equity into the fabric of its workplace culture, workplace operations, and public health programs.

Charge

• To improve health equity by removing structural and programmatic barriers to HIV prevention and treatment through public health programs.
• To build a diverse workforce and work environment that is inclusive and equitable.

Populations impacted

DHP identified critical focus populations and places where investments are needed to advance health equity, which include:

• Black or African American people
• Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (collectively referred to as MSM)
• Hispanic/Latino people
• Transgender people
• People experiencing homelessness
• People living in rural areas
• People living in the southern regions of the United States

DHP's Health Equity Plan includes sustainable actions needed to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, has access to the HIV prevention and treatment tools they need to stay healthy.

Health equity strategy

Workplace culture

Ensure an inclusive, collaborative, anti-racist, and anti-discriminatory workplace culture.

Activities

• Conduct employee cultural diversity celebrations.
• Establish processes to address Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIAB) issues.
• Participate in employee-led conversations and activities that acknowledge and discuss DEAIB topics.

Outcomes

• An inclusive, collaborative, anti-racist, and anti-discriminatory workplace culture is promoted.
• Workplace conversations about identity (race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation) and systems of oppression (including racism) are normalized.
• Personnel systems to address issues involving DEIAB (for example, hiring procedures) are supported.

Workplace policies and procedures

Eliminate workplace discriminatory behaviors and practices by ensuring fairness and equity in recruitment, hiring, career advancement, and other human resource policies and practices.

Activities

• Conduct an employee gap analyses for recruitment, hiring, career advancement, recognition, and performance management strategies and operating processes.
• Develop and implement strategies to recruit a diverse workforce in all series and grade levels, with an enhanced effort on underrepresented people (i.e., Hispanic/Latino people, Native American people, transgender people, etc.).
• Establish standard operating procedures for exit interviews with DEAIB elements.
• Identify and support DEAIB trainings for employees.

Outcomes

• The workplace is free of discriminatory or prejudicial behaviors and practices.
• Recruitment, hiring, career advancement, and other human resource policies and practices are fair and equitable.
• Completion of a comprehensive gap analysis, which leads to implementing DEIAB best practices in interviews, recruitment strategies, hiring practices, career advancements, recognition, and performance management.
• Recruitment of candidates from historically underrepresented populations is increased.

Research, policy, programs, and partnerships

Collaborate with partners to implement programs and policies that address the social and structural factors contributing to race-based and other disparities in DHP's priority populations.

Activities

• Integrate health equity data measures into surveillance systems and reports.
• Organize internal presentations that focus on addressing social determinants of health.
• Engage partners to address health disparities.
• Facilitate health equity knowledge sharing and capacity building opportunities with directly funded recipients.
• Implement Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. activities in the PS20-2010 funding opportunity.

Outcomes

• All national surveillance products incorporate health equity and disparity measures.
• Increased availability and awareness of resources on reducing health disparities.
• Strategic partnerships for equity work are developed.
• Increased the proportion of recipients implementing health equity strategies and programmatic best practices.
• Social and structural factors contributing to race-based and other disparities in the Division's priority populations are addressed through programs and policies.