Partnering to Improve Public Health
The public health system is the nation’s first line of defense against many threats, both naturally occurring and manmade. It ensures the public’s health and safety by identifying and tracking disease, protecting food and water supplies, educating the public on a variety of health issues, and responding to disasters.
In Harm’s Way: Aiding Children Exposed to Trauma
Every year, thousands of children nationwide experience trauma as a result of exposure to violence, abuse, or disasters. These traumatic events create intense stress that threatens children’s mental health and well-being. Fortunately, early intervention and access to appropriate treatment services can ameliorate the immediate and long-term effects of exposure to trauma.
Considering Quality: Engaging Consumers to Make Better Health Decisions
Given information and opportunity, consumers can play an important role in improving health care quality and the responsiveness of the health system to their needs. Whether they are making decisions about choosing a health plan, a particular provider, a course of treatment, or how to incorporate healthy choices into their daily lives, empowered and engaged consumers can be a potent force for change.
For the Benefit of All: Ensuring Immigrant Health and Well-Being
Immigrants and their families contribute to the diversity and economy of the nation, contributing to vibrant, productive, and healthy communities. Yet, immigrants face several barriers to health and well-being. Some result from being disproportionately low income and uninsured; others are unique, such as cultural and linguistic barriers; limited eligibility for public benefits; and bearing the brunt of unwelcoming public views, attitudes, and policies.
Agents of Change
This resource portfolio is from GIH’s 2005 annual meeting, Agents of Change: Health Philanthropy’s Role in Transforming Systems.
Medicaid: Vital to Women’s Health
Although Medicaid is not usually perceived as a women’s health program, it covers critically important medical care for 12 million American women. Grantmakers with a focus on women’s health are paying close attention to proposals to restructure the Medicaid program, which could have major implications for low-income women’s access to health care services.
Improving the Health and Well-being of Children in Foster Care
As a group, children in foster care may be the unhealthiest children in America. They are substantially more likely to have health problems than children in other groups at risk for poor health status, including children in low-income families, homeless children, and children in families receiving public assistance.
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?
The Business of Giving: Governance and Asset Management in Foundations Formed from Health Care Conversions
Since the formation of the first foundation in the wake of the conversion of nonprofit health organizations in 1973, grantmakers, regulators, and others have watched the phenomenon with interest. For nearly 10 years, GIH has been monitoring the development and operations of these foundations. An upcoming report looks at the continued growth of this sector in philanthropy and focuses on how organizations are managing investments, conduct and composition of boards, and other structural issues.
Health and Fiscal Policy
Given the amount of public expenditures devoted to health and concerns about the impact of changes in public policy on the nation’s most vulnerable residents, health grantmakers need to understand existing state and federal policies affecting revenues and expenditures and the implications of any changes on the table. They can also play an important role in the development and implementation of these policies. This portfolio, prepared for GIH’s 2004 Fall Forum, provides information and resources to help grantmakers understand the connections between health and fiscal policy.