Roy Thompson, PhD student, coauthored the editorial “Learning the language of health equity” in the "Research in Nursing & Health." Thompson was also invited by the journal's team as a subject matter expert. He will work on a year-long series of peer-reviewed publications that aim to build capacity for registered nurses and midwives on using culturally-sensitive and culturally-humble language on issues related to health equity that impact historically marginalized populations.   

Introduction

There are longstanding health inequities being experienced by individuals from historically marginalized populations who self-identify as one or more of the following: Black and African Americans, Latinx, Indigenous; Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transexuals, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+); people from low socio-economic status; individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities; and individuals with various immigrant statuses. Women also experience health inequities disproportionately and these are compounded if their identities include any of the ones above. In the wake of the countless events of violence against the aforementioned individuals, our collective conscience has been shocked and sensitized to the stark systemic inequities in the United States (US) and many other countries where Research in Nursing and Health (RINAH) readers live and work. There is much angst and motivation among the nursing and midwifery professional communities to effect change and reduce these inequities as much as possible. With that momentum building, now is the time for action to achieve health equity.

Health equity is defined as the: “Attainment of the highest level of health for all people. This achievement requires valuing every individual equally with focused societal efforts to avoid inequalities, contemporary injustices, and the elimination of health and healthcare disparities” (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Achieving health equity is critical not just for population health, but for the removal of systemic barriers to improve health outcomes for people who have been marginalized based on their identities.

We have created this editorial series around “Learning the Language of Health Equity” that will be published in RINAH over the next seven issues. The inspiration for this series came from an early part of Ijeoma Oluo's book “So You Want to Talk About Race” (Oluo, 2019). One important message in Oluo's book was: Mistakes are inevitable when talking about race, equity, inequality, and related issues of discrimination, especially if you belong to a historically dominant group; for example, being White in the US. Whether you are a White person attempting to discuss race with someone who self-identifies as Black, or a cisgender individual discussing gender identity with an individual who self-identifies as a transgender person, then similar principles apply.

Our goal with this editorial series is to deepen our understanding of the importance of learning the language of health equity in its many forms so that the evidence published by RINAH, and other nursing and midwifery journals are less likely to reflect bias, unconscious or otherwise. We further acknowledge the global readership of RINAH who live and work in various political, economic, geographic, and sociocultural contexts and may face similar challenges in their own countries. By initiating these discussions through this editorial series, our goal is to help nursing and midwifery researchers, administrators, practicing professionals, and students learn the fundamentals of the language of health equity. Together, as we learn the basic language of health equity, we improve our chances of having more productive dialogs around racism, discrimination, sexism, and related topics that will advance the professions and make them more inclusive. In turn, more equitable health outcomes may result for those with whom we work.

Citation

Squires, A., & Thompson, R. (2021). Learning the language of health equity. Research in nursing & health, 10.1002/nur.22192. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.22192