Health Equity Awareness Calendar

June 15, 2021

By Gabrielle Diekmann

Health equity awareness months, weeks, and days help promote a Culture of Health.

The health equity awareness calendar below highlights many disparities in health that are rooted in inequities in the opportunities and resources needed to be as healthy as possible. The determinants of health include living and working conditions, education, income, neighborhood characteristic, social inclusion, and medical care. An increase in opportunities to be healthier will benefit everyone but more focus should be placed on groups that have been excluded or marginalized in the past.

Annual Health Equity Awareness Events

January

• One Health Month
• National Pharmacist Day (January 12)

February

• Black History Month
• National Children’s Dental Health Month

March

• Women’s History Month
• National Nutrition Month
• Social Workers Month
• National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
• Registered Dietician Day (2nd Wednesday in March)
• Doctor’s Day (March 30)

April

• National Interprofessional Health Care Month
• Occupational Therapy Month
• National Minority Health Month
• Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
• National Child Abuse Prevention Month
• National Public Health Week (1st week in April)
• Black Maternal Health Week (3rd week in April)
• World Veterinary Day (last Saturday in April)

May

• Mental Health Month
• National Foster Care Month
• Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
• Older Americans Month
• Better Hearing and Speech Month
• Nurses Week (May 6 – 12)

June

• Men’s Health Month
• LGBTQIA Pride Month
• PTSD Awareness Month
• Family Health and Fitness Day (2nd Saturday in June)

July

• Minority Mental Health Month

August

• National Immunization Awareness Month
• National Breastfeeding Month
• National Health Center Week (2nd week in August)
• International Overdose Awareness Day (August 31)

September

• National Recovery Month
• National Childhood Obesity Month
• Pain Awareness Month

October

• Physical Therapy Month
• National Hospice and Palliative Care Month
• National Primary Care Week (1st week in October)
• Physician Assistant Day (October 6)
• World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (2nd Saturday in October)
• Health Care Quality Week (3rd week in October)

November

• One Health Day (November 3)
• National Rural Health Day (3rd Thursday in November)
• National Family Health History Day (on Thanksgiving Day)

December

• World AIDS Day (December 1)
• International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3)

What other health equity awareness events should be on our calendar?

How do you leverage health equity awareness events to address health inequities? Comment below!

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