Many home visitors adapt their services to reflect caregivers’ and children’s unique circumstances. By recognizing families’ different goals, strengths, needs, challenges, and access to resources, they take an important step toward health equity*—acknowledging current inequities and the need to eliminate barriers. Equity initiatives in home visiting do exist, but they vary widely in size and scope.
The home visiting field will benefit from learning about these efforts and considering the work that still needs to be done. For example, programs can further adopt an equity approach by elevating the voice of families and communities. They should also examine the historical and structural factors—such as racism and discriminatory policies and practices—that affect everything from home visiting participants’ environments to their opportunities for education and employment.
This Innovation Roundup Brief summarizes several equity initiatives in home visiting, including efforts to advance health and/or racial equity in the field:
- Home Visiting Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network 2.0 Health Equity Collaborative
- Michigan Home Visiting Initiative
- Massachusetts Racial Equity Movement
It also highlights the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) program. As accepted participants, the Advisory Committee of the National Home Visiting Network used the NLAPH program to advance its own racial equity learning journey.
*The Health Resources and Services Administration’s Office of Health Equity defines health equity as the “absence of disparities or avoidable differences among socioeconomic and demographic groups or geographical areas in health status and health outcomes such as disease, disability, or mortality.” Read the References section of the brief for the complete citation.
Suggested citation: Singleton, M., Atukpawu-Tipton, G., & Joraanstad, A. (2022, March). Advancing equity in home visiting. National Home Visiting Resource Center Innovation Roundup Brief. James Bell Associates.
Acknowledgments: Thank you to Emma Posner, Katie Stetler, Bryn Fortune, Tiffany Kostelec, Zhandra Levesque, Patricia Finnerty, and Mary Mackrain for sharing information about their equity initiatives in home visiting. Thank you to Allison Meisch, Joelle Ruben, and Jill Filene for shaping and refining the brief.