Policy engagement by local health funders

Policy engagement by local health funders

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Author(s):
Salinsky, Eileen, author
Contributor(s):
Grantmakers in Health, issuing body.
Publication:
[Washington, D.C.] : Grantmakers in Health, July 2016
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Fund Raising
Health Policy
Local Government
Public Policy
Public-Private Sector Partnerships
Stakeholder Participation
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Policies made at the local level have a tremendous influence on people’s health. The quality of foods served in schools, water fluoridation, the availability of parks and recreation facilities, transit planning, public transportation, zoning restrictions, housing codes, smoke-free ordinances, minimum-wage requirements--the list of health policies determined or mediated at the local level goes on and on. Local health funders are uniquely well positioned to inform and influence local policy decisions that can play a critical role in shaping community health and well-being. Local health foundations bring an in-depth understanding of community health needs and have often established long-standing, trusting relationships with local policymakers. This scan of the field explores how local health funders are engaging in health policy issues, particularly those made at the local level. The report is based on key respondent interviews conducted between July and December 2015 with representatives of 20 GIH Funding Partner1 organizations that maintain a local geographic focus. GIH Funding Partners self-identify their geographic focus as local, state, regional, national, or international and may select multiple designations (e.g., local and national funder). This scan is restricted to Funding Partners identifying exclusively as local funders, excluding those with multiple geographic foci. Foundations identifying as “local” funders include those focused on a specific community, township, or metropolitan area, as well as those focused on a specific county or multicounty area. Therefore, the size of these localities varies widely in terms of both populations served and geographic areas. A random sample of 20 local health foundations was selected from the 118 local Funding Partners affiliated with GIH as of June 2015. Foundations were randomly selected to ensure the sample would include an unbiased, representative mix of locally focused philanthropic organizations. While this sample size is not large enough to be statistically representative for all locally focused GIH Funding Partners, it does provide a reasonable basis for qualitative analyses of the field’s engagement in local policy issues. Interview respondents for the sampled foundations were identified from staff contacts maintained in the GIH Funding Partner database. In most cases, the foundation’s chief executive officer served as the interview respondent. GIH promised interview respondents confidentiality to encourage candor. Therefore, this report does not identify the foundations selected for inclusion in the scan. Interview responses were not independently validated. GIH assumes that respondents provided accurate characterizations of their policy involvement.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (8 pages))
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
9918383081706676 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918383081706676