Behavioral Health Strategies

GIH conducted a survey in late 2024 on funder engagement in behavioral health. This fact sheet, based on a sample of 139 health funders, summarizes the current trends, gaps, successes and challenges for funders. It also highlights philanthropy’s continued commitment to behavioral health while also signaling concern about the upcoming funding environment.  

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Creating a Healthier Future for Our Kids, Families, and Communities

Download the essay written for GIH’s 2011 annual meeting Creating a Healthier Future for Our Kids, Families, and Communities, which challenges grantmakers to envision a healthier future for children, families, and communities by working on many fronts. Foundation and health leaders were also invited to share their thoughts around the annual meeting theme.

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Building Capacity for Health Advocacy at the State and Local Level

This paper was prepared in conjunction with a strategy session convened by GIH and sponsored by the Missouri Foundation for Health and The California Endowment last fall. It examines philanthropy’s role in advocacy, the various sectors that constitute the field of health advocacy, capacities required to effectively engage in advocacy efforts, ways health funders have facilitated advocacy capacity development, and key issues for future action.

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Making the Connection: Pregnancy and Oral Health

Recent research indicates that efforts to support oral health can begin even before birth; just as a pregnant woman’s overall health can affect the health of her pregnancy and baby, her oral health can play a role in the occurrence of early childhood caries in her children.

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Improving Women’s Health from Communities to Care Settings

GIH convened the 2010 Fall Forum Improving Women’s Health from Communities to Care Settings to take an in-depth look at the challenges facing women, to show how they shape their health and that of their families. This report begins with a review of health statistics and the broader context of women’s health and then summarizes highlights from the November meeting.

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Back to Basics: Promoting Healthy School Food

With support from the Colorado Health Foundation, GIH convened the strategy session and site visit Back to Basics: Promoting Healthy School Food. This brief paper highlights some key issues that set the stage for the meeting and outlines main aspects of the discussion.

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Home Visiting: Giving Parents and Children an Early Boost

Thousands of children are born each year to parents who struggle to adequately care for them or who lack traditional support networks. As a result, many of these children are at risk for abuse, neglect, or other negative outcomes.

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Implementing Health Care Reform: Funders and Advocates Respond to the Challenge

With provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act set to take effect over the next four years, grantmakers and advocacy groups have been developing activities to address the early stages of health care reform implementation. This report is based on over 40 interviews with national and state grantmakers and advocacy organizations about their initial work around implementation. 

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