Infant Mortality: Racial and Regional Disparities
Infant mortality is an important measure of maternal and child health status, as well as a broader indicator of a society’s health and well-being. In the United States infant mortality rates have held stubbornly at about 7 percent for the last 10 years. This statistic, however, masks significant racial and regional disparities.
Strengthening Government Public Health Agencies
Health funders at the national, state, and local levels have made substantial commitments to improve the functionality of the public health system. Using a variety of approaches, they seek to develop the capabilities, services, and competencies that enhance public health practice.
Annual Report 2007
GIH’s 2007 Annual Report document’s the organization’s programmatic and financial activities.
Bridging, Building, and Beyond: Acceptance Speech of the 2008 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award
The following remarks are excerpted from Terri Langston’s acceptance speech for the Terrance Keenan Leadership Award delivered on February 28, 2008, at the GIH Annual Meeting on Health Philanthropy.
Critical Services for Our Children: Integrating Mental and Oral Health into Primary Care
Grantmakers have long been interested in improving children’s access to health care. Yet, a number of services critical to children’s healthy growth and development—such as mental health and oral health services—fall outside the traditional primary care model. This fragmentation of services has contributed to access barriers and has compromised the quality of pediatric care. Growing awareness of the importance of mental health and oral health has resulted in a variety of innovative efforts to integrate these services into children’s health care.
Serving Our Veterans: Filling the Gaps in Military Mental Health
Stories of devastation on the evening news depict families struggling to cope with the health and mental health problems of their loved ones who have served in the military. For too many, help is not coming quickly enough.
Connecting to Community and Building Accountability
Foundations formed from health care conversions are very much engaged with their communities and seek their involvement in program planning and priority setting, according to a new report from Grantmakers In Health (GIH). The findings in Connecting to Community and Building Accountability reveal that the majority of health foundations promote some kind of community input in their work, although most are not required to do so.
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.
Early Childhood Development: The Building Blocks of Health and Well-being
From birth to age five, a child’s brain develops at a rapid pace. As the brain’s foundation is laid, the presence or absence of critical developmental building blocks can profoundly influence a child’s cognitive, emotional, and social potential. Brain and body development are inextricably intertwined; any assessment of a child’s health must consider that a…