Rationale: Emergency Departments (EDs) have the potential to mitigate health inequities and facilitate appropriate care for all people, including those with complex health conditions. However, practices of discrimination in ED contribute to misdiagnoses, under-treatment and errors, deter timely care, and increase conflict. These dynamics increase costs and contribute to missed opportunities for enhancing the continuity of care and to less than optimal outcomes.
Goal: Implement, test and refine an equity-enhancing framework, including analyzing diverse contexts, integrating health equity initiatives tailored to each ED, setting outcome targets, and monitoring.
Objectives:
- Engage EDs in a participatory process to enhance capacity for Equity-Oriented Care (EOC)
- Examine impacts of EOC initiatives on:
- organizational policies and quality of care
- patient experiences of care and selected outcomes
- staff engagement and team effectiveness
- Analyze cost-effectiveness and scale-up potential
