GIH Advocacy for the Reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA)
The OAA provides critical services that address the social drivers of health for older adults. Grantmakers In Health (GIH) and Grantmakers In Aging (GIA) are partnering to engage funders in advancing the reauthorization of this important piece of legislation.
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Lessons from the Washington AIDS Partnership: How to Take Big Risks and Move Quickly to Drive Change
The Washington AIDS Partnership, a collaboration of grantmaking organizations with a mission of ending the HIV epidemic in the Greater Washington region, was founded in 1988 with the support of the Ford Foundation and 20 DC-area foundations. The organization’s charge was to make grants to the community as quickly as possible. At that time, Washington, DC had the fifth-highest HIV rate in the country, and the epidemic was out of control. As the city has made great progress reaching goals set in the DC Ends HIV Plan, the Washington AIDS Partnership determined in 2023 that its role in the fight to end the local epidemic was coming to an end. The organization will officially conclude its work in the first quarter of 2024.
CareQuest Institute for Oral Health: March 2024
CareQuest Institute for Oral Health released a new report titled The Hour of Need: Productivity Time Lost Due to Urgent Oral Health Needs, which found that adults 18 and older in the US lose more than 243 million work or school hours annually due to oral health problems.
Bob Woodruff Foundation: March 2024
The Bob Woodruff Foundation released a new report, The Got Your 6 Network: Quantifying and Addressing Veterans’ Needs in 2023, with results from a survey of 130 veteran-serving organizations on the needs of service members, veterans, and their families and caregivers.
Philanthropy’s Impact on Health Care Systems: Supporting the Creation of a Community-Health Worker-Based Chronic Care Management Model in Appalachia
Guided by its mission of “helping people help themselves,” the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation strategically invests in the creative problem-solving activities of local communities and individuals. For the past decade, the Benedum Foundation has accomplished this mission in its support of a particular health care delivery model: efficient chronic disease management through a medical model leveraging the skills of community health workers in Appalachia. This model provides unique patient care, has shown success for improving the health conditions of a target population, and reduced health care costs—accomplishments that align with the Institute of Health Improvement’s Triple Aim framework.
Engaging Youth to Guide Research on Their Own Well-Being
In 2019, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Equity and Inclusion unit hosted a convening with young people from Black, Latinx, and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) cultural affinity groups, along with adults who support the work and leadership of these youth and young adults. The young participants, many of whom were from the Aspen Institute’s Fresh Tracks program, expressed the need for young leaders to be the ones defining youth well-being and finding solutions that help their own communities support the well-being of young people.
Cara V. James in KFF Health News on Child Care Gaps in Rural America
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) President and CEO Cara V. James was quoted in a KFF Health News article on January 2, 2024, titled “Child Care Gaps in Rural America Threaten to Undercut Small Communities.” The piece outlines the state of inequitable child care access, how this gap negatively impacts the sustainability and longevity of rural communities, and policy aimed at reducing costs and combatting workforce shortages.
Publications and Reports
2024 Survey Summary: Firearm Violence Prevention Strategies
GIH conducted a survey in September 2024 about funder engagement in firearm violence prevention. This fact sheet summarizes the survey results with a total sample of 81 health funders. This public health crisis and social justice issue is preventable, and health funders have an important role to play in advancing firearm violence prevention efforts.
Progress Report: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Campaign
In October 2023, Grantmakers In Aging (GIA) and Grantmakers In Health (GIH) launched an 18-month initiative to engage funders in the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA). This report highlights key activities and takeaways and previews future programming.
Fact Sheet: Five Ways Congress Can Strengthen the Older Americans Act, and What Philanthropy Can Do
First signed into law in 1965, the Older Americans Act (OAA) provides critical services that address the social drivers of health for older adults such as nutrition, transportation, senior centers, elder rights protections, caregiver support, and health promotion. A popular, bipartisan, and effective law, the OAA is set to expire on September 30, 2024, if it is not reauthorized. Foundations play a critical role at every stage of the OAA, from the time Congress begins reauthorizing the law, to the appropriation of funding, to the implementation of OAA programs. Now is the time to act.
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