Health Inequity: Public Health and Social Justice

•The need is great in Kern County.  According to the County Health Rankings, Kern County is one of the least healthy counties in California, and ranks near the bottom at  52 out of California’s 58 counties in health factors (2018). This website provides health outcomes and information on numerous factors for Kern County, and compares us to other counties in California and the U.S. overall.

http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/california/2015/rankings/kern/county/outcomes/overall/snapshot

•Healthy Kern County - Better Health Through Community: single Internet source dedicated to hosting Kern County Health Information. Lots of Data and resources.

http://www.healthykern.org/

•The California Endowment  - Building Healthy Communities (includes a tale of two zip-codes).

http://www.calendow.org/building-healthy-communities/

• United States Census Bureau  - American Community Survey - Narrative Profiles

https://www.census.gov/acs/www/data/data-tables-and-tools/narrative-profiles/2016/

•You can search the e-Edition of the Bakersfield Californian for articles on Hackathon related topics:

http://www.bakersfield.com/ 

“Public health is the science and art of creating healthy communities through education, research and promotion of healthy lifestyles. In public health, the focus is on health promotion and disease/injury prevention.” Source:https://www.publichealthbaron.info/

The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels. The social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities - the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries. (WHO, 2011)

WHO's Key Concepts in Social Determinants of Health Can be Found at

http://www.who.int/social_determinants/sdh_definition/en/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  - Strategies for Reducing Health Disparities

http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/strategies2016/index.html

•Pierce, Harold. “'An invisible crisis': Toxic stress is helping to shorten life spans in many Kern County communities.” Bakersfield Californian eEdition. July 15, 2017.

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/an-invisible-crisis-toxic-stress-is-helping-to-shorten-life/article_12390916-42a6-5a3a-b852-ddb007ec8703.html