YWHO and Health Equity

YWHO and Health Equity

YWHO takes a health equity approach

Taking a health equity approach across all levels of YWHO means recognizing that the current systems we live in were not built to care for and serve everyone. Planning intentionally and taking concrete action to reduce and remove disparities is essential to our work.

YWHO has expressed commitment to equity, anti-racism, and inclusion, and to improving the quality and accessibility of services for diverse youth across the province.

By prioritizing anti-racism and equity across all levels of YWHO, all youth can have equitable access and more positive outcomes regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, socioeconomic status, and ability.  

 

What is health equity?

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada and Ontario Health, health inequities or disparities are differences in the health outcomes of specific populations that are systemic, unfair, and avoidable.

The goal of health equity is for all people to reach their full potential, highest attainable level of health, and receive the highest quality of care.

Examples of health equity vs. inequities are:

Health Equity

  • Excellent quality of care, positive outcomes and experiences for everyone. 
  • High rates of positive outcomes across all races, genders, abilities, socio-economic statuses, etc. 
  • All youth and families receive the specific care they need, in the way they need it, when they need it. 
     

Health Inequities

  • Different access to care for some groups of people based on race, gender, sexual identity, abilities, socio-economic status (these differences are unfair and avoidable)
  • Preventable differences in quality of care and outcomes between groups of people based on race, gender, sexual identity, abilities, socio-economic status
  • Experiences of racism, homophobia, sexism, transphobia, ableism and other forms of discrimination when accessing services
  • Everyone receives exactly the same care regardless of what they actually need 
     

Equitable care is core to YWHO's values

YWHO aims to incorporate equity by:

  • Promoting anti-racism, anti-oppression, equity, engagement, accessibility, and inclusion of youth and family voices across all core components;
  • Working in partnership with and learning from service organizations that have expertise in delivering culturally appropriate care;
  • Encouraging hubs to prioritize equity and anti-racist approaches when hiring their Youth Wellness Teams. This involves intentionally hiring staff that reflect the diversity of youth living in the sites’ regions and that hold strong background in anti-oppressive and anti-racism practice, as well as representative of intersectional lived experiences;
  • Providing services that respond to health beliefs, practices, and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse youth;
  • Improving the quality and accessibility of services for diverse youth across the province, such as First Nation, Inuit and Métis youth, 2SLGBTQ+ youth, Black youth, Francophone youth, immigrant youth, racialized youth, and youth with disabilities;
  • Making use of sociodemographic data to understand who we are serving, their outcomes and experiences to inform hub planning and service delivery.
  • Allocating funding to capacity building and training that centre content creators and facilitators with intersectional lived experiences and strong backgrounds in anti-racism and anti-oppressive practice; and,
  • Targeting training opportunities for different needs e.g. different types of learning opportunities for people with lived experiences of oppression.  

YWHO recognizes that such efforts to prioritize equity, anti-racism, and inclusion takes intentional planning, reflection, action, funding allocation, and accountability across all teams in the initiative. YWHO acknowledges that we have not done enough to demonstrate this commitment. This work is ongoing and there is still a lot to be done. 
 

More information on health equity work at YWHO

A list of concrete examples of site-level actions that Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) could undertake to prioritize anti-racism across the initiative.

YWHO’s Core Components

About YWHO