Last week the Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) Community of Interest hosted a sold-out forum titled, Realizing the Potential of HEIA: Lessons Learned. The event brought together HEIA experts and users from across and beyond the health system. Highlights included key note speaker Dr. Cory Neudorf, Chief Medical Health Officer, Saskatoon Health Region, who drew attention to the critical importance of challenging health inequities and the role that tools like HEIA can play in this work. A panel of experts including Karen O’Connor (CMHA Toronto), Cynthia Damba (Toronto Central LHIN), Erika Haney (Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit), Dr. Neudorf and Ayasha Mayr Handel (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care) answered questions and shared stories and insights about the tool and health equity in general.
The symposium’s key take–away messages were:
- Improving equity requires organizational commitment, support and resources
- While it may seem complicated, the HEIA is a great tool for getting started
CMHA Ontario was pleased to be a partner in this event, and in efforts to promote use of the HEIA across Ontario to advance greater health equity.
For more information and event presentations, please visit the Health Equity Impact Assessment Community of Interest website.