Health Equity Policy & Planning (HEPP) Unit

The Office of Health Equity's Health Equity Policy & Planning (HEPP) Unit addresses complex issues that require input and collaboration across multiple agencies and departments, most of which are outside of the health sector.  Health in All Policies works with the California Strategic Growth Council and 22 other state agencies and departments to advance policy and programs that support health, equity, and sustainability. The Climate Change and Health Equity Program works to implement California climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and guidance that advance health equity.

Our Vision and Mission 

Our Approach

To accomplish our mission, we:

• Provide guidance, training, technical assistance, communication, and leadership to strengthen capacity for upstream, innovative public health practice. 
• Elevate the priorities of communities facing health inequities as central to California policies and practices across sectors.
• Address the systems, structures, and policies that shape health outcomes, health inequities, and climate change through partnership and cross-sectoral collaboration. 
• Convene and facilitate multi-sectoral discussions on complex, cross-cutting issues.
• Engage with stakeholders, partners, and decision-makers, including government at all levels.
• Assess policies and procedures, conduct research, and elevate the role of data to promote promising practices and inform action.

We work on the living conditions, institutional inequities, and social inequities that shape health outcomes--these are sometimes called the social determinants of health. This is illustrated by the public health conceptual framework below (Figure 1). We work to increase the capacity of state and local public health practitioners and our non-health partners to work on these social determinants of health.

Figure 1: Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) Conceptual Framework, 2006.