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The Journal of Equity in Health (JEH) is an initiative of the Research Group on Disparities of Health (RGDH), Department of Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University and a natural outgrowth of the Annual Health Disparities Conference at Teachers College, Columbia University—held the second weekend (Friday and Saturday) of March. The motto of the RGDH—“From InEquity in Health to Equity in Health”—embodies the mission of the annual conference and the journal: to foster a global health transformation and 21st century civil rights movement for the achievement of equity in health for all. This mission is seen as necessitating a new field of equity in health—as one that is truly transdisciplinary and nonhierarchical, valuing working alongside community members who are genuinely accepted and respected as equals, consistent with the community-based participatory research tradition. We also seek to shift the national discourse from one focused upon U.S. disparities in health to one where we increasingly speak of equity in health for all within our global community.
Consistent with roots in the RGDH and Annual Health Disparities Conference, the JEH accepts manuscripts on a wide range of topics related to the reduction and elimination of health disparities. Manuscripts on evidence-based approaches are particularly valued, as a central goal of the journal is to contribute a body of knowledge that eventually leads to the identification of menus of evidence-based approaches for various health issues and challenges (e.g., diabetes, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, malaria, etc…). Manuscripts may go beyond research reports and include reports from the field by practitioners and interventionists on “what works,” given their vantage point.
The JEH also welcomes articles on the following topics deemed essential for a major transformation in global health: the nature of paradigm shift needed; new models of health care and training, including those emphasizing primary, secondary and tertiary prevention; the kind of new theory, perspectives, and focus on identity that is needed; new evidence-based approaches, including what constitutes evidence of value; the central role and function of transdisciplinary teams and community-based participatory research; globalization and the need for global collaboration; cultural competence and cultural appropriateness; health literacy and linguistic appropriateness; strategies to ensure the right to health; social justice and the need to focus on factors operating in the social context; the need to protect and support the most vulnerable (i.e. special populations, such as the incarcerated, people of color, men who have sex with men, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender, people with disabilities, homeless/displaced, refugees, geriatric, etc…); strategies to repair damage done (e.g. from racism, oppression, war, etc…), restore trust, and foster the taking of responsibility (i.e. by the oppressed, beneficiaries of white privilege/supremacy, government, funders, etc…); and, the importance of redistributing wealth and access to opportunity.