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December 2018 (Volume 96)
Quarterly Article
Marilyn Ford-Gilboe
C. Nadine Wathen
Colleen Varcoe
Carol Herbert
Beth E. Jackson
Josée G. Lavoie
Bernadette (Bernie) Pauly
Nancy A. Perrin
Victoria Smye
Bruce Wallace
Sabrina T. Wong
Annette J. Browne (for the EQUIP Research Program)
Sep 23, 2026
Sep 22, 2026
Back to The Milbank Quarterly
Policy Points:
Context: Significant attention has been directed toward addressing health inequities at the population health and systems levels, yet little progress has been made in identifying approaches to reduce health inequities through clinical care, particularly in a primary health care context. Although the provision of equity-oriented health care (EOHC) is widely assumed to lead to improvements in patients’ health outcomes, little empirical evidence supports this claim. To remedy this, we tested whether more EOHC predicts more positive patient health outcomes and identified selected mediators of this relationship.
Methods: Our analysis uses longitudinal data from 395 patients recruited from 4 primary health care clinics serving people living in marginalizing conditions. The participants completed 4 structured interviews composed of self-report measures and survey questions over a 2-year period. Using path analysis techniques, we tested a hypothesized model of the process through which patients’ perceptions of EOHC led to improvements in self-reported health outcomes (quality of life, chronic pain disability, and posttraumatic stress [PTSD] and depressive symptoms), including particular covariates of health outcomes (age, gender, financial strain, experiences of discrimination).
Findings: Over a 24-month period, higher levels of EOHC predicted greater patient comfort and confidence in the health care patients received, leading to increased confidence to prevent and manage their health problems, which, in turn, improved health outcomes (depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, chronic pain, and quality of life). In addition, financial strain and experiences of discrimination had significant negative effects on all health outcomes.
Conclusions: This study is among the first to demonstrate empirically that providing more EOHC predicts better patient health outcomes over time. At a policy level, this research supports investments in equity-focused organizational and provider-level processes in primary health care as a means of improving patients’ health, particularly for those living in marginalizing conditions. Whether these results are robust in different patient groups and across a broader range of health care contexts requires further study.
Keywords: health equity, cohort studies, models (theoretical), social determinants of health, primary health care, quality of care, primary care.
Read on Wiley Online Library
Volume 96, Issue 4 (pages 635-671) DOI: 10.1111/1468-0009.12349 Published in 2018