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Louisville conducts Cultural Logic study
Dr. Adewale Troutman, Founder and Director, Center for Health Equity, Louisville, KY

Louisville’s Center for Health Equity was established in June 2006 to address the social and economic conditions that cause health inequities and impact the civic well-being of Louisville residents. To help spark a community-wide conversation on health equity, the center commissioned a report from Cultural Logic to discover how people in Louisville think about issues related to health equity. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews with a cross-section of people living in Louisville and also undertook an analysis of news media reports.

The study found that people have a strong tendency to discuss health only in terms of (1) individual choices and responsibility and (2) access to or quality of health care. These patterns of thinking were reinforced by news stories that overwhelmingly emphasized health as an individual issue.

The differences that exist between what public health experts want people to understand and what the public believes about health and health inequities should matter greatly to all of us concerned with advancing a broad health equity policy agenda.