May 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 42

SOCIAL EQUITY
Reducing Health Disparities and
Promoting Health Equity
By James M. Weinstein, M.D., and Robert García

new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering
and Medicine reinforces the importance of NRPA's role and its Three
Pillars: Conservation, Health and Wellness, and Social Equity. The report, titled Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity, aligns with
NRPA's goals and outlines strategies to advance health equity across the country,
including increasing access to parks, open spaces and recreation.
We were privileged to be part of the
National Academies Committee on
Community-Based Solutions to Promote Health Equity, which authored
the report. Our Committee explored
the root causes of health inequity and
health disparities, and the impact that
such inequities and disparities have, not
just on the individuals and families affected, but also on our nation as a whole.
Sadly, in the United States, many communities lack sufficient access to parks

and open space, quality education, safe
and affordable housing, jobs, adequate
transit and healthy food options. These
are necessary conditions and opportunities for people to fully thrive.
Our report recommends strategies for
communities to consider, and the key action needed to strengthen evidence-based
solutions to reduce health disparities and
promote health equity. It emphasizes the
need to make health equity a shared
vision and value, to build trust and ca-

Marianne Engelman Lado, clinical professor of law at Yale Law School, testified before the
committee on environmental justice, health and civil rights compliance.
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pacity in the community, to develop
youth leadership, and to foster multisector collaboration to improve social determinants and promote healthier, more
equitable communities where people
live, learn, play, work and age.
In brief, the committee reports the
following:
1. Health equity is crucial for the well-being and vibrancy of communities.
2. Health is a product of multiple social
determinants.
3. Health inequities are in large part a
result of poverty and disparities in
income and wealth, structural racism
and discrimination.
4. Communities have the capacity to promote health equity.
5. Supportive public and private policies
and programs facilitate community action.
6. Collaboration among diverse partners
is essential to promote health equity.
7. Tools and other resources, including
civil rights strategies, exist to translate
knowledge into action.
The report emphasizes that access to
parks, recreation areas and monuments
is a social determinant of health. It
features community alliances working
with the National Park Service, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers with the city
of Los Angeles, U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S.
Forest Service, the L.A. Unified School
District, and park and resource funding
measures by the state of California and
L.A. County.
It is the committee's hope that the report will inform, educate and, ultimate-

May 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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