Health equity is the social justice lens that public health institutions across the United States have increasingly embraced as a mandate, however there are few jurisdictions addressing how to prioritize funding toward that end. The practical translation of a social justice concept necessitates the creation of a budgetary tool and an implementation process that identifies those with the highest levels of health disparity and social disadvantage.
Using the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) as its central case, this paper argues that for health delivery systems to be socially just and to achieve health equity, these systems must not only establish the principle that health equity is important, they must prioritize their funding to achieve it. The broad public health mission to protect and promote the health of all will create ethical and methodological challenges when it comes to prioritizing one group’s needs over others.
This paper addresses the first steps toward creating a budget prioritization method that is feasible for managers to administer while also being transparent to the public, summarizes lessons learned, and discusses ethical dilemmas that jurisdictions will face when implementing health equity into a budgetary process.
","abstract_html":"<p>Health equity is the social justice lens that public health institutions across the United States have increasingly embraced as a mandate, however there are few jurisdictions addressing how to prioritize funding toward that end. The practical translation of a social justice concept necessitates the creation of a budgetary tool and an implementation process that identifies those with the highest levels of health disparity and social disadvantage.</p> <p>Using the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) as its central case, this paper argues that for health delivery systems to be socially just and to achieve health equity, these systems must not only establish the principle that health equity is important, they must prioritize their funding to achieve it. The broad public health mission to protect and promote the health of all will create ethical and methodological challenges when it comes to prioritizing one group’s needs over others. </p> <p>This paper addresses the first steps toward creating a budget prioritization method that is feasible for managers to administer while also being transparent to the public, summarizes lessons learned, and discusses ethical dilemmas that jurisdictions will face when implementing health equity into a budgetary process.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Martinez, Maria X, Ms."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Public Affairs (MoPA)","degree_level":"Project/Capstone - Global access","degree_discipline":"Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Corey Cook, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Politics, USF","Ronald R. Sundstrom, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy, USF","Tomás J. Aragón, MD, DrPH, Health Officer, City and County of San Francisco"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-12-14T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-12-14T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:42:43Z","subjects":["Health Equity","Budgetary Process","Public Health","Social Determinants","Health Disparities","Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/1","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Corey Cook, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Politics, USF","Ronald R. Sundstrom, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy, USF","Tomás J. Aragón, MD, DrPH, Health Officer, City and County of San Francisco"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Martinez, Maria X, Ms."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-10-28T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Project/Capstone - Global access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Public Affairs (MoPA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Health Equity","Budgetary Process","Public Health","Social Determinants","Health Disparities","Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/1"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Health equity is the social justice lens that public health institutions across the United States have increasingly embraced as a mandate, however there are few jurisdictions addressing how to prioritize funding toward that end. The practical translation of a social justice concept necessitates the creation of a budgetary tool and an implementation process that identifies those with the highest levels of health disparity and social disadvantage.
Using the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) as its central case, this paper argues that for health delivery systems to be socially just and to achieve health equity, these systems must not only establish the principle that health equity is important, they must prioritize their funding to achieve it. The broad public health mission to protect and promote the health of all will create ethical and methodological challenges when it comes to prioritizing one group’s needs over others.
This paper addresses the first steps toward creating a budget prioritization method that is feasible for managers to administer while also being transparent to the public, summarizes lessons learned, and discusses ethical dilemmas that jurisdictions will face when implementing health equity into a budgetary process.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Lessons Learned: Can a Principled Mechanism for Improving Health Equity be Integrated into a Budgetary Process?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Corey Cook, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Politics, USF","Ronald R. Sundstrom, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy, USF","Tomás J. Aragón, MD, DrPH, Health Officer, City and County of San Francisco"],"dc:creator":["Martinez, Maria X, Ms."],"dc:date.available":["2013-10-28T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Health equity is the social justice lens that public health institutions across the United States have increasingly embraced as a mandate, however there are few jurisdictions addressing how to prioritize funding toward that end. The practical translation of a social justice concept necessitates the creation of a budgetary tool and an implementation process that identifies those with the highest levels of health disparity and social disadvantage.
Using the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) as its central case, this paper argues that for health delivery systems to be socially just and to achieve health equity, these systems must not only establish the principle that health equity is important, they must prioritize their funding to achieve it. The broad public health mission to protect and promote the health of all will create ethical and methodological challenges when it comes to prioritizing one group’s needs over others.
This paper addresses the first steps toward creating a budget prioritization method that is feasible for managers to administer while also being transparent to the public, summarizes lessons learned, and discusses ethical dilemmas that jurisdictions will face when implementing health equity into a budgetary process.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/1"],"dc:subject":["Health Equity","Budgetary Process","Public Health","Social Determinants","Health Disparities","Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration"],"dc:title":["Lessons Learned: Can a Principled Mechanism for Improving Health Equity be Integrated into a Budgetary Process?"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good"],"thesis:degree_level":["Project/Capstone - Global access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Public Affairs (MoPA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:42:43Z"}