Atlanta, GA (April 15, 2020) – Georgia Watch announces it has received a grant through Community Voices for Health (CVH), an initiative led by Public Agenda and Altarum, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Statewide partners for the Georgia-based initiative include Georgians for a Healthy Future, Georgia ACT, and Morehouse School of Medicine.
The 30-month project, titled Strengthening CHW Civic Engagement to Promote a Culture of Health in Georgia,aims to equip Georgia’s 1,000 community health workers (CHWs) to support civic engagement in more sustained, connected, and innovative ways.
“We are deeply honored to be selected as a grantee for the Community Voices for Health initiative and grateful to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for their generous support of this important work,” said Liz Coyle, executive director of Georgia Watch.
“Because CHWs are already embedded in Georgia’s healthcare and social service systems and have relationships of trust in many marginalized communities, grant funding will be used to arm CHWs with knowledge and resources that will enable them to uplift the voices of their communities on issues of social and health policy,” Coyle explained.
The Community Voices for Health initiative provides support to six organizations improving healthcare at the state level to increase engagement between policymakers and community members, with particular emphasis on giving a voice to marginalized and under-resourced communities. The ultimate goal is to build stronger engagement infrastructure that involves a broader range of people and be inclusive of the social determinants of healthcare, such as housing, poverty, and safety to improve health outcomes of communities.
Nationally, the six recipients of the Community Voices for Health initiative are:
- Bloomington Health Foundation/Citizens for Community Justice, Inc. (Indiana)
- Colorado Consumer Health Initiative (Colorado)
- Georgia Watch, Inc. (Georgia)
- Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities (Nevada)
- Presbyterian Healthcare Services/NM Alliance of Health Councils (New Mexico)
- Pennsylvania Health Access Network (Pennsylvania)
In total, the Community Voices for Health initiative will make available up to $3.96 million in funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with each state organization receiving over $600,000 for the span of the 30-month-long initiative.
Over the course of the initiative, Public Agenda and Altarum will work closely with the six state organizations, offering strategic and technical input. Collectively, the two organizations will partner with the grantees to assess state policy and public opinion landscape, pilot elements of engagement infrastructure, work with state policymakers, identify community health priorities, develop engagement research best practices, and build partnerships and collaborations.
The Community Voices for Health initiative will also build resources for community engagement in order to advance efforts in other states across the country. Two resources are already available and will be applied to work in the six grantee states. The Community Voices for Health Guide covers different methodologies in strengthening, deepening and diversifying engagement in the healthcare system and the Community Voices for Health: A Deeper Dive into Collaborative Researcher-Community Projects highlights a full spectrum of community-engaged research activities and provides examples. Additionally, Public Agenda developed the Civic Engagement Scorecard, a new measurement tool to help policymakers understand whether and how residents value the opportunities for engagement available to them.
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About Georgia Watch
Founded in 2002, Georgia Watch is a statewide nonprofit organization advocating for consumers and working to give Georgians a voice in critical public policy forums. We educate the state’s consumers on the healthcare, energy, civil justice and financial issues that impact the quality of their lives. In all that we do, we work to ensure equitable outcomes and justice for Georgia consumers.
About Georgians for a Healthy Future
Georgians for a Healthy Future (GHF) is a non-partisan, non-profit consumer health advocacy and policy organization with a mission to build and mobilize a unified voice, vision, and leadership to achieve a healthy future for all Georgians. GHF advocates for a day when all Georgians have equitable, affordable, quality health care so they can live healthy lives and contribute to the health of their communities. GHF does its work through coalition building and mobilization, consumer education and mobilization, strategic communications, and public policy advocacy. More information available at healthyfuturega.org.
About Georgia ACT
Georgia Advancing Communities Together (Georgia ACT) is a nonprofit agency, which represents Georgia’s nonprofit affordable housing and community development organizations. Our mission is to build and support a network of thriving member organizations and trained professionals serving families with limited housing choices. We provide forums where nonprofit organizations can network and exchange information, act as an informational resource for the general public, commission research, and advocate for a more favorable policy environment for affordable housing and anti-poverty initiatives. For more information, visit www.georgiaact.org.
About Morehouse School of Medicine
Founded in 1975, Morehouse School of Medicine is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians, biomedical scientists, and public health professionals. In 2011, MSM was recognized by Annals of Internal Medicine as the nation’s No. 1 medical school in fulfilling a social mission. MSM faculty and alumni are noted for excellence in teaching, research and public policy, as well as exceptional patient care. Morehouse School of Medicine is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award doctoral and master’s degrees. To learn more about programs and donate today, please visit www.msm.edu or call 404-752-1500.
About Public Agenda
Public Agenda is a nonpartisan research and public engagement organization dedicated to a healthy, just, and effective democracy. We support informed citizens, engaged communities, and responsive public institutions. We also elevate diverse voices, build common ground and foster progress on issues of concern to the American public. These include K-12 education, higher education, health care, economic opportunity, and democracy reform. Find Public Agenda online at PublicAgenda.org, on Facebook at facebook.com/PublicAgenda and on Twitter at @PublicAgenda.
About Altarum
Altarum is a nonprofit organization that works with public and private insurers, provider organizations, and foundations to improve health of vulnerable and publicly insured populations. Altarum achieves measurable results by combining public health and health care delivery domain expertise with applied research and analytics, technology, continuing education, advisory services, and program implementation. Our innovative solutions lead to better value and better health for all. Learn more at Altarum.org.
About Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For more than 45 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are working alongside others to build a national Culture of Health that provides everyone in America a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.