Power to the People: Advancing Impact Through Participatory Budgeting

Who is best positioned to determine how health funding should be allocated? At the Community Health Commission of Missouri (CHCM), we believe the answer is clear: the people most affected by health disparities.

Read More →

How Pew Is Learning to Improve Health Policy

Antibiotics revolutionized medical treatment and are a cornerstone of modern health care. However, the global rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is making infections costlier and deadlier. After a 2008 report commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts highlighted these concerns, the organization invested in multiple projects to set limits on the use of antibiotics and to spur the development of new drugs.

Read More →

Strengthening a National Field of Practice for Climate, Health, and Equity: Learning What it Takes

When The Kresge Foundation’s Climate Change, Health and Equity (CCHE) initiative launched in 2018, community power mobilization was integral because too often the people closest to viable climate resilience solutions were excluded from decisionmaking. Since then, the leadership of CCHE’s community-based, health practitioner, and health institution partners has underscored the significance of community power to transform climate policy and public health practice.

Read More →

Notes from the Journey: Going Beyond Words to Advancing Health Equity

In the weeks since the 2023 Grantmakers In Health conference in Minneapolis, where we gathered as a community of grantmakers seeking to advance health equity, I have been reminded often of the inspiring and encouraging conversations we had by an envelope of Post-It Notes sitting on my desk. These notes make me smile. They make me feel connected. And their messages motivate me to continue the journey from health to health equity for the long haul.

Read More →

Terrance Keenan Institute Alumni Reflect on How COVID-19 Changed Grantmaking

Foundations play a vital role in the nonprofit sector, funding everything from safety net services to social innovation. Like many businesses, philanthropic organizations altered their ways of doing business in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The health sector, including hospitals and other health care settings along with public health organizations, were deeply affected by the magnitude of illness and the polarization of the pandemic response. To understand exactly how the business of health grantmaking shifted during COVID-19, Jennifer Chubinski and Allen Smart conducted in-depth interviews with health foundation leaders from around the country to learn what changed in their grantmaking strategies and practices.

Read More →

The Kids Are Okay: Lessons Learned from a Youth-Led Participatory Grantmaking Program

The Natrona Collective Health Trust (NCHT) was created in October 2020 after the sale of our community’s standalone nonprofit hospital to a regional hospital system. As Wyoming’s first health conversion foundation, NCHT uses trust-based philanthropy and systems change advocacy to advance the mental well-being of our community’s young people. During an extensive strategic planning process, we found that at both our community and state levels, there is insufficient infrastructure to address mental and behavioral health needs, which perpetuates health disparities and high incidences of childhood trauma.

Read More →
Reports

The SCAN Foundation: September 2023

The SCAN Foundation published a report analyzing 2014-2020 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data. The analysis found racial inequities in telehealth, access to care, and health status during the first year of the pandemic. In 2020, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic adults over 50 experienced worse self-reported health status, used less telehealth, delayed care more, and were less likely to have their care preferences considered compared to their white counterparts.

Read More →
Reports

KFF: September 2023

KFF released three reports analyzing Medicare Advantage’s impact on enrollment, benefits and cost-sharing, and bonus payments. One report found that “federal spending on bonus payments to insurance companies that offer Medicare Advantage plans” will be at least $12.8 billion, around 30 percent more than in 2022 and more than four times the spending in 2015.

Read More →