Northwest Health Foundation concentrates our funding on three specific areas of focus:
While much of our work is focused on these three areas, we also recognize the powerful relationship each has with the other. Focusing our work in this way is not meant to imply that these areas function in isolation. In fact, each of these domains must be strongly interconnected if we are to improve the health, and advance the common good, for all.
Public Health: The infrastructure that allows us all to thrive
Research has shown that medical care accounts for only about ten percent of our nation’s overall health status. The other ninety percent is largely due to the way in which we structure our society to create opportunities for health into our day-to-day lives.
Many of these factors can be addressed within our existing public health system, which is designed to protect us and improve our health and well-being. But when the benefits of our public health system are not fully understood by policymakers and the public, the result is an inadequate investment in the infrastructure needed to implement proven prevention strategies. Working in cooperation with nonprofit advocacy organizations and governmental public health, the Northwest Health Foundation is working to change that.
Community Health Priorities is our campaign to make public health a priority in Oregon. The Foundation serves as a credible, nonpartisan convener to foster these discussions both online and in person. In 2008 we launched the CHP website and blog, in partnership with the Oregon Public Health Division. We also help convene the Public Health Alignment Workgroup, representing twelve nonprofits, government agencies and advocacy groups to better coordinate the pursuit of public health priorities.
Community-based participatory research is another important funding program within the public health focus area. The CBPR approach is a growing trend in our field – and it’s ideally suited for building community support for public health issues.
We also focus on physical activity and nutrition. Our efforts in this area, however, are not about “making people” exercise or eat better. Funding in this area is intended to help shape the policies and environments that promote opportunities for active living and healthy eating. Research shows that simply disseminating facts as a stand-alone strategy does not change people’s conduct. As long as the environment – cheap junk food, neighborhoods unsafe or inconvenient to walk or bike through, etc. – remains “obesogenic,” efforts to steer people toward healthier lifestyles will continue to fail. We support community-driven efforts to change these environments in ways that make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Because significant health-influencing factors occur even outside the public health system, our donor-advised Kaiser Permanente Community Fund (KPCF) invests in projects and initiatives that address far-reaching social determinants of health. This fund focuses on issues as wide-ranging as poverty, racial and ethnic health disparities, community-building and affordable access to safe and healthy places to live, work, play and learn — all of which, believe it or not, can have a much more profound influence on our health than anything the medical system can provide.
Health Care Reform: Closing the fairness gap
The Northwest Health Foundation believes that access to health care should be a basic right of all people. In Oregon, approximately 600,000 people are currently uninsured.
Ultimately, we envision a fair health care system where people can go to the doctor when they need to — which is the norm throughout Europe, Canada, Japan, and many other nations.
The Foundation supports organizations that work to increase access to health care, both within the existing health care system and through a process of grassroots engagement in health reform policy change.
Northwest Health Foundation is working toward reform within the existing system by funding innovative models for delivering care. In 2009, we requested proposals from organizations making progress in implementing a “primary care home model,” which seeks to improve the way services are delivered by a team of providers, coordinated within the health care setting and with other services in the community—and perhaps nested within a local community health collaborative. Many entities throughout Oregon and southwest Washington are working to change their health care delivery models to meet this vision, which may be also called an “integrated health home,” or “medical home.”
The Northwest Health Foundation seeks to make a difference through responsive, competitive grant cycles, as well as through convening activities. These activities play a vital a role while consuming fewer grant dollars. In 2008 we brought together a number of health funders that were unaware of the primary care home model and connected these funders with groups that are currently implementing the primary care home model
Brilliant minds and tireless advocates already have devoted countless hours to the issue of health care access, and Northwest Health Foundation has funded several of them through our Health Advocacy and Reform program. Thanks to the groundwork these grassroots organizations have established, we remain cautiously optimistic that real progress can be made on this important issue of social justice and equity.
Health Workforce: Building the Workforce for the 21st Century
While business and government both tend to be absorbed with the immediate needs of their customers and special interests, philanthropy is able to focus on the future.
Grantmakers have an important role - and a clear responsibility – to spearhead creative solutions that address the complex future health needs of our society.
Currently, nursing provides a significant opportunity for change as it is a profession which too often lacks adequate investment in leadership development, workforce innovation and adapting to demographic changes.
Northwest Health Foundation is working to address this challenge. We are committed to helping the nursing profession develop strategies to improve this vital human resource to reach its full potential. We are building on our past experience in this field, in which our efforts have led to synergies and collaborations resulting in successful nursing partnerships and initiatives.
The Foundation supports the organizational development of nursing organizations as well as nursing leadership development and diversity in nursing workforce. We also work on policy issues that support the development of the nursing workforce. In order to make progress on the nursing workforce issue, we are advancing our agenda to policy-makers and other funders in Oregon.
In addition to our local work, Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future is a collaboration between the Northwest Health Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program supports local foundations to invest in nursing workforce solutions.