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
Getting Prescription Drugs to Those Who Need Them Most
There are major changes taking place in the way elderly and disabled people pay for prescription drugs. These changes are being ushered in by the new Medicare law, which, if it lives up to its promise, will be incredibly helpful to some of the most vulnerable members of our society. What are the details of the new law? How many people will it affect? How will low-income people be assisted? What are the implementation challenges? How are they being addressed by the federal government? What can grantmakers do to help?
New Choices and Hard Decisions: Helping Seniors Navigate Medicare
Educating seniors on the changes to the Medicare program will be a challenge for both the public and private sectors. Reaching the nation’s 41 million Medicare beneficiaries — 35 million of whom are over the age of 65 — will require a mix of customized, one-on-one assistance and broad education campaigns. This Issue Focus proposes that providing information and referral services for seniors and their families is an area ripe for foundation work, and outlines a number of opportunities for grantmakers.
Addressing Maternal Depression
Maternal depression affects not only a woman herself, but also her family, friends, and coworkers. Of particular concern is maternal depression’s link to problems in children’s health, mental health, and development. This Issue Focus highlights ways that health grantmakers can address maternal depression and its consequences, including educating women and health care providers, promoting screening and treatment, integrating mental health services into programs serving pregnant and parenting women, and supporting research.
Connect With Funder Peers on Population Health
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