Reflections and lessons learned from implementing the Ontario Health Equity Impact Assessment Tool in community practice

Public Health Pract (Oxf). 2026 May 1;11:100796. doi: 10.1016/j.puhip.2026.100796. eCollection 2026 Jun.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: In this commentary, we describe our experience using the Ontario Ministry of Health’s Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) Tool as part of a project evaluating the implementation of an Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) workshop for family caregivers of neurodivergent people and people with disabilities from multiple communities across Canada.

STUDY DESIGN/METHODS: Caregiver and clinician ACT facilitators completed the HEIA Tool to promote awareness of potential health (in)equities related to the workshop.

RESULTS: Facilitators reported challenges understanding and implementing the Tool, which prompted our team to customize it for this context.

CONCLUSIONS: We outline recommendations based on the implementation strategies we used, which may have relevance to other community-based programs or initiatives seeking to conduct a health equity assessment.

PMID:42200101 | PMC:PMC13199960 | DOI:10.1016/j.puhip.2026.100796