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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Oral Health Disparities: A Shift Toward Policy Work

Oral diseases and disorders occur frequently among all populations, but large disparities exist by region, age, socioeconomic status, and race and ethnicity. In response, many oral health grantmakers have become more focused on policy solutions to improve oral health.

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Schools as Entry Points for Children’s Mental Health Services

Health grantmakers are in a strong position to support efforts to increase children’s access to mental health services by funding school-based services, building relationships between schools and service providers, disseminating information, and promoting policy change.

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Changing the Conversation: Taking a Social Determinants of Health Approach to Addressing HIV/AIDS among Women of Color

This piece was written in conjunction with an October 1, 2009 GIH strategy session to understand HIV/AIDS prevention among women of color through a social determinants lens and explore the possibilities this approach presents.

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Filling a Gap in Care: The Need for Behavioral Health Integration

Primary care is often provided in isolation of behavioral health care, and vice versa. An integrated approach addresses this challenge by systematically coordinating physical and behavioral health services to more fully meet individual needs.

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Reaching Kids: Partnering with Preschools and Schools to Improve Children’s Health

Improving children’s health and development has been of substantial interest to and investment in by national, state, and local funders for many years. Directly engaging with preschools and schools to improve these outcomes in children is increasingly a way to support a wide variety of efforts and interventions that reach a majority of children in an efficient and effective manner.

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The Importance (and Challenge) of Reaching Obese Adults

Over the past year, adult obesity rates continued to rise in the United States, resulting in an urgent need to lower rates. But much of what got us here will take years of extensive effort to reverse.

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Not Your Usual Flu: Preparing Communities for H1N1 and the Fall Flu Season

Each fall, influenza sickens millions of Americans and causes approximately 36,000 deaths. This year, however, could be much worse as scientists and public health experts anticipate that H1N1 influenza will reemerge, perhaps in a more virulent form.

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