GIH Bulletin: June 2010

June 1, 2010

Aetna Foundation (Harford, CT) awarded a $331,000 grant to Engelberg Center for Health Reform at the Brookings Institution (Washington, DC) to help the center explore innovative approaches to implementing and evaluating value-based purchasing programs

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Improving Quality: Long-Term Vision and Incremental Change

May 14, 2010

Quality is one of the most pressing issues facing the health care system today, and foundations are using a variety of approaches to support quality improvement efforts at the local, state, and national levels, turning a cacophony of consumer voices into coherent, actionable work.

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Back to the Beginning: Obesity Prevention in Early Childhood

May 14, 2010

Recent efforts in the field of child obesity prevention have placed emphasis on the school-age population, and with good reason. Schools present a unique opportunity to reach large groups of children on a regular basis with healthy foods and physical activity. However, about 10 percent of children come to kindergarten already obese, indicating that more attention needs to focus on the period of life before school.

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2010 Terrance Keenan Award Acceptance Speech

May 14, 2010

Read about The Commonwealth Fund’s Dr. Mary Jane Koren’s 30 years of work to improve the quality of institutional long-term care, and be inspired by her willingness to take chances on innovation, revisit old ideas, and find treasure among the wreckage.

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GIH Bulletin: May 2010

May 1, 2010

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation (Chapel Hill) awarded a three-year, $610,000 grant to the North Carolina Dental Health Fund of the North Carolina Dental Society (Cary).

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Intervening Early to Address Children’s Health Disparities

April 16, 2010

In the United States, children of color and those in low-income families continue to lag behind white and affluent children on nearly every health indicator. In addition, many of these indicators and conditions, such as preterm birth, low birth weight, and asthma, can have long-term influences on children’s healthy development and functioning.

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Racism: Combating the Root Causes of Health Disparities

April 16, 2010

Reducing health disparities in communities of color has been a public health priority in the United States for the past decade. To date, however, substantial improvements have not been achieved. Even more troubling is the evidence that disparities persist even when overall health trends improve.

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Rethinking Substance Use Disorders

April 16, 2010

Almost 1 in 10 individuals over age 12 has a problem with alcohol or drugs, making substance use disorders one of the most damaging and expensive health problems facing the United States today. Yet many of the specific issues surrounding substance use remain under the radar because of their controversial nature and the highly marginalized and vulnerable populations they often affect.

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GIH Bulletin: April 2010

April 1, 2010

Aetna Foundation (Hartford, CT) and Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (CT) awarded approximately $720,000 to fund two obesity awareness and prevention programs at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (Farmington).

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Tackling the Tough Work of Community Change

March 22, 2010

While somewhat new to health foundations, place-based community change work is not new to philanthropy. Grantmakers who are considering such ventures have to judge how comfortable they are with the roles they might be called upon to play in a community change effort.

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