Reports
How Do We Get to Equity?
Thomas Aschenbrener, Northwest Health Foundation president, was invited by Grantmakers in Health to write a commentary related to the theme of 2012 Annual Meeting “Health and Equity for All.”
Patient-Centered Primary Care Home Task Force Report - 12/13/11
The Patient-Centered Primary Care Home Task Force Report was funded by Northwest Health Foundation in order to provide Oregon with a roadmap for widespread adoption of Patient-Centered Primary Care Homes. Read the report to learn more about primary care homes and how they can improve our health care system in terms of cost, quality and fairness.
Philanthropy and Communities of Color in Oregon
This report is entitled “Philanthropy and Communities of Color in Oregon: from strategic investments to assessable impacts amidst growing racial and ethnic diversity.” It was issued by the Coalition of Communities of Color in 2012.
Nurses Wanted: The Changing Demand for Registered Nurses in Oregon
Recent media coverage of the nursing shortage has focused on the difficulty recent nursing graduates face finding employment, leaving many to ask “Is there still a nursing shortage?” The NWHF-funded Oregon Center for Nursing answers this question in their recent report, “Nurses Wanted: The Changing Demand for Registered Nurses in Oregon.”
Grantmaking to Communities of Color in Oregon: A report from the Foundation Center
How much giving by Oregon foundations is reaching Oregon’s communities of color? Find out in this report (GTCC in Oregon) from December 2010, Prepared by the Foundation Center on behalf of Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington (GOSW).
To find out more about grantmaking to communities of color at Northwest Health Foundation, please see the second document (GTCC at NWHF).
Communities of Color in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile
Minorities make up more than 26 percent of the population in Portland and Multnomah County and compose approximately 45 percent of students at Portland Public Schools. Northwest Health Foundation served as the primary funder of this report, which was one of the outcomes of a substantial community-based participatory research project.
As the document demonstrates, people of color consistently lag behind whites on nearly every indicator, from poverty rates to jobs. This is why the report concludes that Multnomah County is a “uniquely toxic place” for people of color, especially when comparing Multnomah County to other counties throughout the United States.
March 2010 Public Opinion Poll: Health Priorities of Oregonians
Northwest Health Foundation, through its Community Health Priorities Project, has released public opinion research conducted by Davis Hibbitts Midghall, revealing areas where Oregonians want health dollars spent.
“It’s clear Oregonians understand health is about so much more than the health care debate raging nationwide,” said CHP’s David Rebanal. “It is about access to health care, but it’s also about what we can do as a state to make it easier for people to make healthy choices.”
Oregon’s Nursing Shortage: A Public Health Crisis in the Making
Recognizing the importance of an adequate nursing workforce, and in response to growing concerns about a nationwide nursing shortage, Northwest Health Foundation commissioned a study of the nursing workforce in Oregon to develop a framework for discussion of potential initiatives that could have a substantial impact on the shortage. research from the report, published in 2001, continues to influence decisions about funding workforce programs.
Northwest Health Foundation Releases Report on Obesity’s Effect on Rising Medical Spending in Oreg
The Northwest Health Foundation has released a report commissioned from Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, Professor and Department Chair at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. The key - and unfortunate - finding of the study is that 34% of the increase in Oregon’s health expenditures between 1998 and 2005 can be attributed to rising obesity prevalence.
The Impact of Obesity on Rising Medical Spending in Oregon from 1998 to 2005
Community Health Priorities: A Report to the Community
This initial report from 2007 contains results from our key informant interviews, polling results, and information about our initiative.
Community Health Priorities: A Report to the Community (2007)
Slideshow Presentations
Handbooks
Health Care Reform Glossary
A resource for Oregon legislators and anyone else interested in a quick reference to terminology used in health care reform discussions.
Northwest Community Changes Guidebook
This guidebook is designed to give community-based organizations and coalitions practical, easy to use tools and methods for evaluating policy and environmental change initiatives. Because Northwest Health Foundation is becoming more involved in policy and environmental change projects, this guidebook holds particular relevance for many of our grantees and partners.
The guidebook is a collaboration between Northwest Health Foundation and six grantees participating in our Alliance for the Promotion of Physical Activity and Nutrition (APPAN) program. The guidebook was produced at the end of the two-year Northwest Community Changes project, which was designed to build the evaluation capacity of APPAN grantees.
While the work was focused on improving opportunities for healthy eating and active living, the methodology is appropriate for policy advocacy toward other goals as well.
Program Evaluation Handbook - A Free Resource for Nonprofits
Interested in learning about program evaluation? Download the second edition of Program Evaluation: Principles and Practices. The handbook was developed for participants in a training workshop sponsored by NWHF, and is intended for use by a wide audience of nonprofit health services providers. Authors: Sherril B. Gelmon, Anna Foucek, and Amy Waterbury.
Electronic Health Record Resource for Community Health Centers
A new Northwest Health Foundation resource is now available to assist community health centers in deciding if, when and how to implement an electronic health record system. Developed by a team at Portland State University with support of the Kaiser Permanente Community Fund, this handbook is intended to provide an overview of the key factors for community health centers to consider as they anticipate adopting electronic health record systems.
The need for such a technical resource is essential today for a number of reasons, including the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which was signed by President Obama in early 2009.
Community Health Centers and Electronic Health Records: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities
Outside Publications and Research
NWHF CBPR Grantee Publishes Resarch Results: Arthritic Pain Among Latinos
Latino residents partnered with researchers from Portland State University and conducted a community-based participatory research study to examine factors associated with pain among Latinos with arthritis, identify common coping strategies and potentially effective interventions, and determine whether pain levels affect the level of interest in potentially useful programs. Their results are published her in the Journal of Arthritis Care & Research.
Arthritic Pain Among Latinos: Results from a Community-based Survey
Closing the gap in a generation - Health equity through action on the social determinants of health
Polls and Surveys
What’s your community health priority?
What’s your community health priority?This is post we created back in 2008. Since that time it received over 100 responses. Click through them to see what our grantees, partners, and colleagues said when we asked: What’s your community health priority?
We know it’s hard, but if you had to choose just one issue to get additional funding, which would it be? The bottom line is that we’re trying to determine where you feel the greatest needs are right now.