Public health and social entrepreneurs as activators of equitable health ecosystems

Objectives: To describe approaches that public health and social entrepreneurs take to address health equity, and identify strategies for equitable collaborations with these entrepreneurs.

Methods: We leveraged data from semi-structured interviews, conducted August to October 2022, with 20 public health and social entrepreneurs who focus on drivers of health and health equity. Two researchers employed content analysis, guided by a prior framework.

Results: To support health equity, public health and social entrepreneurs: center equity, critique biases, innovate for inclusion, engage translational expertise, catalyze capacity, and activate equitable systems. Equitable collaborations are supported by re-examining roles, de-conflicting organizational barriers, prioritizing representation, mitigating bias in generating evidence, and employing equitable capital.

Conclusions: Public health and social entrepreneurs can uplift equity across health service design and delivery. More equitable collaborations can advance this work.