Philanthropy @ Work

The United Hospital Fund of New York released a report, The Ripple Effects of the Adolescent Behavioral Health Crisis, which analyzes the behavioral health crisis in the United States and groups who are disproportionately affected. The report also quantifies the impact of the adolescent behavioral health crisis on medical costs, productivity, and wages.

The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust recently published a 10-year evaluation of Healthy Places NC, its signature place-based initiative to improve health in rural NC communities. The Healthy Places NC evaluation provides insights for fellow funders in various sectors who want to shift norms, systems, power dynamics, and other conditions that produce inequity, particularly in rural communities.
In July of 2020, the Foundation worked with partners to conduct a survey of over 1,000 Missouri adults to understand firearm-related beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors within the state with the intent of informing stakeholders interested in firearm injury and death prevention. Topics for the reports include firearm suicide beliefs and practices, perceptions and storage practices, background checks, and more.

Episcopal Health Foundation, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc., and St. David’s Foundation sponsored a report from Altarum, Economic Impact of Health Disparities in Texas, finding that Texas is losing over $7 billion annually due to excess medical spending and productivity loss. The report includes economic impact estimates for all 254 counties in Texas and highlights both the human cost and economic burden of health disparities.

Digital diabetes management tools do not deliver meaningful health benefits that justify their cost, according to a new report from the Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI). PHTI’s independent, evidence-based assessments fill a critical gap in the search for and adoption of high-value healthcare technologies. The first-of-its-kind report and PHTI’s forthcoming assessments help payers, providers, and innovators know what tools work and are worth it.