Racism: Combating the Root Causes of Health Disparities

Reducing health disparities in communities of color has been a public health priority in the United States for the past decade. To date, however, substantial improvements have not been achieved. Even more troubling is the evidence that disparities persist even when overall health trends improve.

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Intervening Early to Address Children’s Health Disparities

In the United States, children of color and those in low-income families continue to lag behind white and affluent children on nearly every health indicator. In addition, many of these indicators and conditions, such as preterm birth, low birth weight, and asthma, can have long-term influences on children’s healthy development and functioning.

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Rethinking Substance Use Disorders

Almost 1 in 10 individuals over age 12 has a problem with alcohol or drugs, making substance use disorders one of the most damaging and expensive health problems facing the United States today. Yet many of the specific issues surrounding substance use remain under the radar because of their controversial nature and the highly marginalized and vulnerable populations they often affect.

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GIH Bulletin: April 2010

Aetna Foundation (Hartford, CT) and Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (CT) awarded approximately $720,000 to fund two obesity awareness and prevention programs at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (Farmington).

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Tackling the Tough Work of Community Change

While somewhat new to health foundations, place-based community change work is not new to philanthropy. Grantmakers who are considering such ventures have to judge how comfortable they are with the roles they might be called upon to play in a community change effort.

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What’s in a Name? Untangling Health Disparities, the Social Determinants of Health, and Health Equity

Health disparities…social determinants of health… health equity. These phrases are used to talk about differences in health, but what do they mean?

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Taking Risks at a Critical Time

Download the essay written for GIH’s 2010 annual meeting, as well as special guest commentaries by foundation leaders Patricia Baker, Thomas David, Karen Wolk Feinstein, Phillip Gonzalez, and Mark Smith on taking risks.

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Where Do We Go From Here? Combating Health Care Disparities in an Era of Reform

There is growing interest in improving the health of racial and ethnic communities of color by going beyond the health care setting to the root causes of poor health and inequality. In the current era of national health care reform, new opportunities may become available to further combat racial and ethnic disparities in health care.

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Health and Justice: Health Care for People Involved in the Justice System

Health funders have found that focusing on people entering, in, or emerging from the criminal and juvenile justice systems increases the likelihood of connecting with vulnerable populations that are hard to pull into traditional health interventions.

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GIH Bulletin: March 2010

Aetna Foundation, Inc. (Hartford, CT) announced two grants totaling $250,000 as part of its continuing efforts to establish racial and ethnic equity in health and health care.

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