For the past 40 years, Washington, D.C.-based Grantmakers In Health has been dedicated to helping foundations and funders of all sizes and interests through education, leadership and networking – working with a whole bunch of philanthropic organizations across the USA. Dr. Cara V. James, president and CEO at GIH, shares how and why her profession has focused on minority health and improving health outcomes for vulnerable populations. She also talks about GIH’s strategic plan focused on health equity, social justice, access and quality, community engagement and empowerment, population health and philanthropic growth and impact. Hearken to the episode or read the transcript.
A fragmented system
Public health, as described by Dr. James, will not be easily or quickly explained. It encompasses essential functions that be sure that people can live their healthiest lives. When public health is working accurately, we don’t see it. When it fails, it makes headlines.
Unfortunately, public health is an area that suffers from racism and prejudice at a systems level. Health inequality is an enormous component of public health, which is why Dr. James and Grantmakers In Health seek to coach and lead philanthropic efforts towards health equality.
Health inequality can take several forms: It’s not having health information translated in a patient’s first language, or it’s not having the ability to accommodate a patient with disabilities. It shows up when a patient is treated in another way based on the presence or appearance of their family, something Dr. James saw firsthand when her grandmother was within the hospital. And too often, health inequality is solely a population’s lack of access to health care.
About Grantmakers In Health
Grantmakers In Health is a philanthropic support organization dedicated to education and solutions across five focus areas:
- Health equality
- Access
- Community engagement
- Population health
- Philanthropy growth and impact
Dr. James works with greater than 200 foundations and company giving programs. She and her team lead webinars, write educational materials and gather stakeholders together to problem-solve and implement solutions. This process requires trust and commitment. Philanthropy isn’t perfect and has work to do, acknowledges Dr. James, but a part of the trust constructing is showing long-term commitment to doing the work. In some cases, it even requires a foundation to look at its own problematic past and be sure that there’s reckoning with it and healing from it.
Challenges
Dr. James says work like this has all the time been an uphill battle, and when it’s not within the headlines or impacting you personally, it’s easy to disregard health inequality. One approach to keep the topic front of mind, Dr. James says, is to assist change the narrative around health inequality, to assist people find their shared humanity between themselves and people who are hurt by unequal systems. We now have more in common, more shared experiences than not. All of us want our youngsters to grow and be protected, all of us wish to be respected and all of us want health care to be there for us.
What we are able to do
Health equity should just be the way in which we do business, says Dr. James. People having to make a choice from food and medicine, for instance, mustn’t be happening on the planet, let alone the USA. The U.S. spends more on health care than another country but is number 72 in life expectancy.
Dr. James believes it’s going to take everyone working together to assist change things. For many who would love to become involved, she suggests starting on the local level. Search for patient advisory boards, find resources from the Kaiser Family Foundation and become involved within the conversation.
To listen to more from Dr. James, take heed to this episode of Off the Charts.