UNNATURAL CAUSES . Take Action

What can you do to help tackle health inequities and create more equitable conditions for everyone?

Identify and connect people interested in the root causes of health inequities.
Organize a “brown bag” screening to discuss how social conditions—where we are born, live, work and play—impact health.
Form a committee to identify assets, programs, or initiatives within your organization where you can use the series to educate, organize or advocate for health equity.
Screen and discuss the series with PTAs, book clubs, neighborhood associations, churches, tenants groups, racial justice groups, and trade unions.
Identify three existing struggles in your community that can improve health equity, e.g., land use, a living wage, paid sick leave, affordable housing mandates, toxic clean-ups, lead paint removal, etc. How can you become a partner?
Conduct an audit of health threats and health promoters in your neighborhood.
Identify and build strategic partnerships with community-based organizations and organizations in other sectors; link health outcomes to housing, education, employment, political power and other arenas.
Form a community-wide health equity coalition.
Ask your public health department to conduct a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on proposed development projects and government initiatives and ordinances.
Provide local media with facts and resources so they can incorporate a health equity lens in their reporting; help them identify a message point person to provide quotes, analysis and additional information.
Broaden the discussion: look for opportunities to submit op ed articles, letters to the editor, call in to radio talk shows, and form discussion groups.
Organize a policy forum to brief officials in government agencies about the social determinants of health inequities.
Visit the official UNNATURAL CAUSES film and outreach Web site to learn more about how you and your organization can get involved. The site contains a wealth of tools and resources to help you advance health equity, including a series discussion guide, action toolkit, policy guide, classroom materials, and our ConnectUp! directory of organizations.