Equitable Evaluation Series: Principles of Equitable Communication

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enhances the health and well-being of all Americans by advancing equity, addressing social determinants of health, and supporting underserved communities. To support evidence-based policymaking, HHS is committed to ensuring, protecting, and institutionalizing the collection, dissemination, and use of high-quality evaluation findings in a way that is informed by and accurately reflective of diverse viewpoints. The language and communication approaches used in all HHS’ program evaluation work should be responsive to diverse and intersecting identities, and should minimize misconceptions, biases, and distortions. This requires that evaluators produce work that is representative and respectful of all those who may affect or be affected by the programs and policies which they evaluate. In this document, the Addressing Bias in Language (ABL) Workgroup of the HHS Evidence and Evaluation (E&E) Council describes principles for equitable communication within the context of program evaluation and other forms of evidence building.