- In April 2026, ChangeLab Solutions released Policymaking to Advance Health and Racial Equity, a guide that equips policymakers, public agencies, and community partners with practical and legally grounded guidance on how to design, implement, and defend policies that advance racial equity.
- We also hosted a webinar, Policymaking to Advance Health and Racial Equity, in May 2026, that explains concepts from the guide. Speakers provided foundational context for why racial equity matters, discussed current litigation and changes in the external environment, and considered what these developments mean for policy efforts.
- This blog expands on the guide and webinar with actionable strategies and resources for talking and writing about health and racial equity in the current policymaking environment.
Expanding on Our Legal Primer and Webinar
Efforts to advance health and racial equity are crucial for ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity to be healthy and thrive. Yet, recent court decisions and executive actions have increased scrutiny of health and racial equity efforts, threatening to widen health disparities and thwart important progress in helping everyone lead full and healthy lives. However, these developments do not change existing civil rights laws for the most part, which continue to allow — and in some cases require — a variety of strategies to advance health and racial equity.
In response to this changing landscape, we published a "Legal Primer for Policymaking to Advance Health & Racial Equity" (webinar also available here), which can help changemakers evaluate legal risks and apply strategies to advance legally feasible, community-informed policy solutions. Efforts to advance racial equity must balance legal risks with the equally significant risks of inaction and overcompliance. Not taking any action or preemptively retreating out of fear carries real risk of damaging trust, perpetuating harms, and undoing critical progress made towards addressing health disparities. In some cases, inaction or retreating too far can make government entities and organizations more vulnerable to claims of unlawful discrimination, not less so.
In presenting the Legal Primer and helping changemakers across the country navigate this evolving legal and political landscape, questions about messaging and framing have continuously surfaced. While some changemakers might work in communities where there is broad-based support for policymaking to advance health and racial equity among decision-makers and community partners, others might face limited support, differing opinions, or potential backlash. Reactions to racial equity programs vary depending on the audience, from community members to elected officials, organizational leaders, and funders. Because of this, public health practitioners need adaptive communication strategies grounded in the latest messaging research.
Strategies for Talking about Racial and Health Equity
Whatever context you are working in, and whomever you are seeking to engage, there are strategies you can employ to build bridges, trust, and shared understanding about paths forward to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to be healthy and thrive. We offer tips and resources below as a starting point to support changemakers in talking about, and building support for, racial and health equity work in different contexts and with various audiences.
1. Lead with values of shared humanity before describing health disparities
Research backs leading with a clear appeal to specific shared values (e.g., dignity, fairness, belonging) and explaining health disparities as a violation or undermining of the shared values in existing systems. When using fairness as a value, it is important to foreground system design, making clear the role of laws and policies and unequal distribution of power in how current systems work. Leading with dignity to explain health disparities helps keep the focus of the message on shared humanity and upholding the inherent dignity and worth of all people and communities. Using “we” language is also an effective frame to help build support among people and promote understanding, particularly in constrained environments, as it enables people to feel connected to the problems and find solutions.
2. Emphasize solutions to reduce health disparities and articulate visions for the future
When messaging highlights solutions and visions for the future, instead of simply describing disparities and challenges, people can better visualize the possibility of systemic change and their role in it. Specific — and multiple — examples of how individuals, local communities and decision-makers, and other key stakeholders can engage to reduce health disparities and improve health are especially helpful in activating people’s sense of agency and promoting belonging. Targeted universalism is also a helpful framework for articulating collective visions for the future; it means setting universal goals and employing tailored strategies to help everyone reach the shared goals, based on how different groups are situated within structures, culture, and geographies. Targeted universalism is powerful because it rejects a binary of either universal responses (which people with marginalized identities may view with skepticism) or targeted solutions (which some may view as unfairly helping one group instead of another).
3. Highlight how promoting health and racial equity benefits everyone
Describe the benefits of investing in efforts that reduce health disparities and improve health clearly: who benefits, how much, and in what ways. Anti-equity narratives often frame health equity efforts as coming at the expense of others. Clear framing about the collective positive impact of health equity interventions on everyone’s well-being — for example, making improvements to systems that everyone depends on — can proactively dispel this fear, disrupt the false “zero-sum” narrative of health equity efforts, and mitigate the risk of these efforts being misunderstood and weaponized.
4. Clearly demonstrate how past policies have led to current health inequities
Showing, instead of simply telling, the past and present of health disparities and how they are connected is helpful for promoting understanding, especially across shifting political contexts. When describing health disparities, provide concrete examples from research to clearly show a cause-and-effect relationship between past policies and current health harms, noting both how past policies have harmed health for specific groups and communities and how that past shows up today. The extensive body of data and evidence on social determinants of health play a critical role here. Rather than using labels, communication strategies recommend using plain language and examples to show how a variety of social factors, including policies, shape everyone’s health and well-being.
Health Equity Framing and Messaging Resources
There is no “one-size-fits-all" approach for framing and messaging; communication as an underlying strategy for advancing health and racial equity must be tailored to your intended audience, as well as to the relevant legal and political context in your jurisdiction. For more information, please refer to our curated list of resources on responding to actions affecting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives, including resources for messaging and framing, as well as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) strategic messaging guides and resources for discussing health equity and structural racism in health with different audiences. We also encourage you to explore the work of the following organizations* that have extensive, evidence-based guidance on strategic messaging and narrative communication for health and racial equity:
- Thruline for Health Equity (sign-up required for access): a strategic communications network that provides research-backed messaging, technical assistance, and other proven tools to help advocates achieve racial health equity. Sign up for their Network here to gain exclusive access to their research library and tools, including new strategic communication guides specifically geared towards health equity advocates navigating the current moment.
- FrameWorks Institute: an independent, nonprofit organization that provides evidence-based research frameworks and messaging, technical assistance, and other proven resources to effectively discuss social and scientific topics. Explore their curated resources by topic area here, including on health, racial justice, and evidence-based policymaking, as well as a new tool to navigate racial justice work in the current context.
- Berkeley Media Studies Group: a nonprofit organization that provides research, media advocacy toolkits, technical assistance, and other proven tools on framing and messaging, with a particular focus on how media characterizes health issues. Explore their curated resources here, including on framing.
- Collaborative on Media & Messaging for Health and Social Policy: an interdisciplinary collaborative of researchers who provide research evidence, technical assistance, and other proven resources to navigate the complex media ecosystem surrounding population health issues, with a particular focus on policies that can advance health and racial equity. Explore their resource library here, along with information on their five focus areas: Communicating about Health Equity; Communication in the Context of Polarization and Politicization; Communicating about Race, Class, and Social Policy; Communicating about the Social Safety Net; and Storytelling for Social Change.
- Public Health Communications Collaborative: an interdisciplinary collaborative of public health and communication experts who create and share practical resources, science-based messaging guidance, and learning opportunities to address evolving public health issues, build public trust and confidence, and navigate misinformation. Explore their suite of public health communication tools here, as well as information on current public health topics, webinars, and action guide for public health agencies.
*Please note that this is a non-exhaustive list and many other excellent health equity communications and framing resources are available online.
For additional guidance on advancing health and racial equity through policymaking, explore our guide, Policymaking to Advance Health and Racial Equity, and watch our accompanying webinar. Together, these resources provide practical, legally grounded strategies to help policymakers, public agencies, and community partners navigate today's evolving policy landscape and advance equitable outcomes.
10/27/2026