Work

Clinical practice guideline recommendations can promote or undermine health equity

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: While clinical practice guideline makers and methodologists signal the importance of considering inequities, recommendations often have little or nothing to do with fairness. Since inequities are, by definition avoidable, guidance on clinical practice is a prime opportunity to make health care more fair. Equity should be a central consideration when deciding who to involve in the guideline process, the guideline's scope, the type of information to consider, how to make recommendations and how to share recommendations. Guideline producers should select topics where guidance can actually address inequities and then use information about disparities to make helpful recommendations. Funders and journal editors should insist that guidelines explain how panels were formed and why new guidance on the topic is needed. Changes to clinical practice guidelines will not be enough to promote health equity, but guidelines can be part of the solution if they are thoughtfully produced and acted on by clinicians and by governments.

Source: Clinical and Public Health Guidelines

DOI: 10.1002/gin2.70011

Author: Nav Persaud

Institutions: St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Unity Health Toronto

Language: English

Topic: Clinical practice guidelines implementation

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,200