Thank you to the agencies and partners that contributed to this report
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), drivers of health inequities go beyond access and quality of care with up to 70% of disparities due to non-medical drivers of health. To understand communities impacted by health inquity a multidisciplinary research partnership was co-created with The Atlantic, Atlantic Insights, Omnicom Public Relations Group (OPRG), and more than 25 independent advisors globally. This co-creation team collaborated intimately and embarked on a six-month journey to study voices in health equity and design and analyze a global survey among communities globally. Agreeing to answer these survey questions was no easy task. It took vulnerability and authenticity to let down guards down to connect with one another and get to work.
“There is a strong business case for private sector engagement in health equity that spans beyond shifting investor expectations and a moral imperative to business metrics such as revenue, unlocking new customer audiences, customer retention and employee satisfaction,” says Terri Jackson, Partner, Rabin Martin, part of OPRG. “Our team is excited to modernize how the private sector engages in global health equity.”
All countries face their own unique inequities in health status or in the provision of health care resources among different population groups. Stronger data is needed to understand the drivers of health disparities and advance health equity. This report aims to advance our understanding of lived experiences to improve real-world impact for communities medically underserved by health systems globally. Backed by impactful public voices, a multinational 6,001-person survey explored communities’ perspectives on global health inequities.
Data Unearths Five Key Themes
Discrimination remains a pervasive issue in healthcare systems globally, with a significant number of respondents reporting experiences of discrimination based on their age, weight, race or ethnicity, gender, finances, religion or faith, and sexual orientation or identity. The experience of explicit discrimination is more pronounced among non-White, LGBTQAI+, and immigrant communities.
Broken trust and not feeling safe in the healthcare system is a global phenomenon. Broken trust refers to the ability of actors (healthcare providers) in the health system to understand their patient populations, connect to patients in a meaningful way to produce better health outcomes and solve problems beyond treatment and care. Lack of trust is more pronounced among non-White, LGBTQAI+, and immigrant communities. In Germany, Immigrants and refugee respondents were nearly twice as likely to have lost trust in a healthcare provider.
Civil society and community engagement is essential to healing broken trust and promoting health seeking behavior via meaningfully and actively bringing trusted community leaders such as the faith-based community and community healers into the healthcare ecosystem to implement health promotion and education, as well as linkage and retention to care and treatment.
Digital health is a global trend, such that the combination of the internet and social media are the two most frequently used methods for obtaining health information, for themselves and/or their families. The digital divide is more pronounced among non-White, LGBTQAI+, and immigrant communities.
Emotional intelligence and connection are top of mind globally when looking for healthcare providers, people look for values such as trust, understanding, respect, competency, and empathy. Communities in different geographies differ in what they value emotionally.
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The full report summarizes research findings on diverse community perceptions of their healthcare experiences in Germany, Spain, the UK, and the US.