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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GIH Comments on the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan Framework for FY27–FY31
GIH submitted a comment in response to a Request for Information from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) about the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan Framework for FY27–FY31. The Strategic Plan outlines NIH’s vision for biomedical research direction, capacity, and stewardship, and lays out NIH’s proposed priorities over the next five years.
Cultivating Health Through Shared Prosperity and Street Food
A native of Fresno, I was raised in California’s Central Valley where I have now worked for a few decades. As a first-generation college student, my lived experience is very common for the children of farmworkers. My extended Mexican family was big, poor, uninsured, and suffered many losses from violence and preventable illnesses.
Bridging the Gap: How the Collaborative Care Model is Transforming Maternal Mental Health in Los Angeles
In California, as in the rest of the United States, the statistics regarding maternal mental health are alarming. Approximately one in five mothers suffers from mood and anxiety disorders during the perinatal period, which extends from pregnancy through one year postpartum. Yet, despite this high prevalence, the overwhelming majority of these women do not receive treatment. The barriers are systemic and multifaceted, including but not limited to behavioral health workforce shortages; a lack of integration between primary, perinatal, and behavioral health care; inadequate training for maternity care providers; and stigma.
Funding Without Alignment Is Just Spending: Colorado’s Model for Alignment to Maximize Impacts on Youth Well-being
Public funding for youth well-being isn’t lacking in effort or investment. But when dollars move through disconnected systems, even the best intentions can fail to translate into meaningful outcomes. What if the challenge isn’t how much we fund, but how those investments work together? Colorado is testing a different approach: aligning funding, data, and strategy across agencies so that public dollars can operate as a more coordinated system rather than a collection of parallel but sometimes siloed efforts.
Beyond Innovation: How Philanthropy Can Strengthen Systems to Improve Rural Health Outcomes
Sometimes innovation in philanthropy is associated with breakthrough technologies or new medical discoveries. But some of the most impactful investments fund something less visible: the coordination of people, protocols, and institutions already in place so they work together seamlessly to save lives.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Health
GIH President and CEO Cara V. James offers reflections on the theme for the 2026 Annual Conference
Publications and Reports
Promoting Children’s Mental Health
The problem has been well documented: approximately one in five children and adolescents experiences a mental health disorder in any given year, and 1 in 10 of all youth experiences a mental illness that severely disrupts his or her daily functioning. Yet more than two-thirds who need mental health services do not receive them. While untreated mental illness can set an individual on a devastating path, early intervention or prevention can correct the course.
Adolescence to Adulthood: Crossing the Threshold
The period between adolescence and adulthood is a time of great transition. As youth accepts the responsibilities of adulthood, they must take important choices about leaving home, continuing their education, finding a job, or starting a family. Over the past several decades, with more youth entering college and delaying marriage, the transition has become even more complex.
Reducing Gun Violence: Is There a Role for Health Philanthropy?
Every year, approximately 30,000 Americans lose their lives to gun violence. Efforts to reduce this tragic toll raise important questions: How can gun violence be prevented?
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