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Initiatives
The Colorado Health Foundation supports
grants that lead to lasting improvement in the health of Coloradans.
Proposals that focus on long-term improvement through multiyear
funding are part of our mission. Research projects, health policy
agendas, and educational programs are among the initiatives we
support. We partner with nonprofits, businesses, government agencies,
and other foundations to find solutions to critical health
issues.
We believe that collaboration is the best medicine for the health
care challenges we face. Below is a short description of several
of our initiatives, along with links to Web sites and full reports
for more detail.
Click a link below to jump to a description
of that initative on this page:
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Healthy Connections:
Strengthening Care through Health Information Technology
In an effort to improve efficiencies in the health care
system, reduce the rate of preventable medical errors and
close the gaps in the delivery of quality care for underserved
populations, The Colorado Health Foundation has undertaken
a multiyear initiative to improve the Health Information
Technology (HIT) capacity of providers serving low-income,
uninsured Coloradans. Although there is a nationwide ten-year
effort underway to achieve universal adoption of Electronic
Health Records and to develop a system where health information
can be universally shared, nonprofit providers lack the necessary
resources to fully participate in this effort. Through Healthy
Connections, The Colorado Health Foundation’s first
proactive grantmaking initiative, health care organizations
in Colorado may apply to receive funding and technical assistance
to implement or expand their HIT capabilities. Learn
more » |
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LiveWell
Colorado
LiveWell Colorado is a statewide initiative aimed at reducing
overweight and obesity rates and related chronic diseases
in Colorado. A new partnership among foundations, health
care organizations, non-profit organizations and state
and local public health agencies, LiveWell Colorado will
provide millions of dollars to help reverse the state’s
obesity trends and reduce related chronic diseases. The
Colorado Health Foundation has approved a $2.7 million
two-year grant to support the new initiative. Learn
more » |
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Cavity
Free at Three
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment’s 2007 Basic Screening Survey, about
45 percent of all kindergarten-aged children have a cavity
or filling. In an effort to reverse this trend, The Colorado
Health Foundation has joined with Delta Dental of Colorado
Foundation, Rose Community Foundation and Caring for Colorado
Foundation to fund a three-year, statewide program to prevent
oral disease in young children. Cavity Free at Three will
provide technical assistance grants to nonprofit or government
organizations interested in increasing access to services
for the prevention and early detection of oral disease
in pregnant women and children less than 3 years of age.
Ten eligible organizations will receive technical assistance
valued at $50,000, including $10,000 grants to help offset
the cost of providing oral disease prevention education
and services. The deadline to apply for a Cavity Free
at Three technical
assistance grant is
April 30, 2008. |
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The
Colorado School of Public Health
Public health, a field dedicated to improving the health
of populations rather than individuals, makes
a vital contribution in ensuring our region’s health
and well-being. Colorado and surrounding states face many
of the same public health-related challenges as east and
west coast states – chronic
diseases, access to health care, natural disasters, environmental
threats, emerging infectious diseases and costly injuries.
Yet, there is no school of public health in the entire nine-state
region to help support the demands these threats place on
the health care, and state and local public health infrastructure.
Recognizing that Colorado needs an accredited school of public
health to compete on a national level for federal training
and research dollars and for many national foundation grants,
The Colorado Health Foundation issued a $1.25 million challenge
grant in 2006. The Foundation is pleased to announce
the challenge has been met and work to build this important
component of public health safety and infrastructure will
soon begin. Learn
more » |
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Healthy Schools Partnership: A Prototype for School-Based Health and Prevention
School-based health centers are an important part of the
safety net and a proven method of providing health care
to low-income children and adolescents. To learn more about
how this concept can work in Colorado schools, The Colorado
Health Foundation approved a grant to Community Health
Services for $1,256,000 to fund a prototype for school-based
health and prevention called the Healthy Schools Partnership.
A school-based health center is a primary health care facility
located within or on school grounds and is staffed by a
multi-disciplinary team of pediatric or adolescent health
specialists. These centers are an important part of the
safety net and a proven method of providing health care
to low-income children and adolescents. Learn
more » |
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| Training older adults to use public transportation improves their access to quality health services. |
Getting There
By 2030, one in every five Americans will be
65 or older. Colorado is no exception. With one of the fastest
growing elderly populations in the country, Colorado’s
over-65 population will triple in the next 25 years. The
Colorado Health Foundation understands that older adults
need transportation services to remain independent and healthy.
That’s
why we have made a sizable contribution and a multiyear commitment
to a transportation initiative, “The
Getting There Collaborative.” |
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Advancing Colorado’s Mental Health Care
This initiative
is a five-year, $4 million joint project of the Caring for Colorado
Foundation, The Colorado Trust, The Denver Foundation and
The Colorado Health Foundation. The goal of Advancing Colorado’s
Mental Health Care is to improve the integration and
coordination of mental health services, so people
with severe mental health needs can be treated with the
services they need most. Access a summary on
the project, a press
release identifying the participating communities,
or the project highlights. |
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Denver's Road Home
Denver’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness
The
Colorado Health Foundation has made a three-year grant totaling
$1 million to the Denver Commission to End Homelessness.
This work will change the way the city and its citizens
overcome the root causes of homelessness while providing
immediate and sustainable improvements to current services.
The short-term goal is a 75 percent reduction in chronic
homelessness in five years, while the long-term goal is
to end homelessness in Denver. Please see the following
links for more information:
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| Adult day programs provide special days for elders. Social interaction, exercise, music, art, day trips and events bring meaning to the lives of older adults and offer a day of respite for caregivers. |
Assessment of Aging in Colorado
The Denver Regional Council
of Governments (DRCOG) and the Colorado Department of Human Services
completed a group of studies of the state’s aging
population. The study, sponsored in part by The Colorado Health
Foundation, reports that providing in-home care for needy adults
60 and older, improves their quality of life and
costs almost $2,000 less each month than institutional
care.
Our sponsorship of adult day programs at the Johnson
Adult Day Center supports the finding of this
study and reflects our commitment to quality, cost-effective
health care access for adults across their life span. |
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