Grant Partners

Health Care For All will launch an ethnic media campaign during the 2017 Open Enrollment period, utilizing radio and print advertisements, outreach strategies, and other communication avenues to engage hard-to-reach individuals in cities with high rates of uninsured individuals across the state.

Conference of Boston Teach Hospitals (COBTH) will hire a consultant to develop and facilitate a planning process that will establish the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and Community Health Implementation Plans (CHIP) Collaborative and provide recommendations that are represented by key city stakeholders and community members, and aloow them to highlight the social and economic factors impacting the City of Boston and its neighborhoods.  This planning process follows an agreement by COBTH hospitals to collaborate on primary data collection that is shared among member hospitals of COBTH for their respective CHNAs.  In 2018, COBTH intends to conduct a single CHNA and develop a joint CHIP for all of the city in partnership with the Boston Public Health Commission and other key community stakeholders. 

Brookline Community Mental Health Center will develop a small-scale pilot of a functional user community that allows care providers to share resources, pose questions, and sustain dialogue across systems. The Brookline Center will build and coordinate the network by creating the user group, recruiting members, monitoring and administering the group, and collecting and analyzing data.

To support professional development for nursing staff, printing of promotional materials, and medical equipment for the North Shore Mother Visiting Partnership.

The Talking Information Center (TIC) will develop a radio program to broadcast events focused on health and vocational training for individuals with disabilities. TIC provides free broadcasting of local news, articles, consumer information, and other items of interest to visually-impaired and otherwise disabled individuals across the state.

The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers (the League) will serve as a source of accurate and timely information related to health care coverage issues. The League will conduct policy analyses regarding state and federal issues and disseminates their learnings to policymakers, state agencies, member organizations, and other advocacy groups. Additional priorities will include increasing the League’s capacity for grassroots advocacy work and improving health literacy among patients at community health centers.

Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) will focus on community health integration and improving the built environment. MPHA will work with the Alliance for Community Health Integration to ensure that social determinants of health are adequately addressed, in particular through community investments, support for ACOs from MassHealth, and health care institutions’ internal policies.

To purchase a pachymeter to screen and treat patients affected by glaucoma.

To replace three residential-style refrigerators in the Adult Day Center.

HSL has developed a depression services program, Making Real Progress in Emotional Health, to integrate behavioral health treatment with primary care and other health services to reduce the severity of depressive symptoms in seniors, and to improve overall health.  The Foundation's grant will enable HSL to expand services to patients receiving in-home care.  In 2015, HSL acquired Jewish Family and Children’s Services, which expanded HSL’s home care services by an additional 1,000 seniors (now totaling 2,000 older adults).  In contrast to seniors in supportive housing who tend to be part of a community, seniors in home care are more likely to suffer from isolation, pain, and increased debility post-hospitalization.  These stressors also increase these seniors’ susceptibility to depression.  HSL will take the lead in developing and monitoring individual care plans; tracking health outcomes in collaboration with primary care physicians from the practices treating the majority of patients; and developing additional community partnerships to ensure more comprehensive collaborative care for their patients.

Massachusetts Association for Community Health Workers (MACHW) will focus on professionalizing the community health worker (CHW) workforce by advocating for statewide standardization of practices, the development of a certification process, and the promulgation of a code of ethics. Additionally, MACHW will work to increase CHW participation in medical decision-making and encourage delivery organizations to raise CHWs’ wages. They will also develop metrics capturing the impact of CHWs on social determinants of health, for consideration by MassHealth.

Family Health Center of Worcester will conduct outreach with partner agencies; advertise Navigator services in local media; review all eligibility determination letters received from MassHealth and the Connector, proactively contacting patients who were denied or lost coverage, and assist them in completing the application or re-applying; use multilingual call center software to send auto reminders and targeted messages to patients with impending deadlines; provide group information sessions at agencies that serve target population; and host monthly orientations for new patients to help them understand how to navigate services at the health center.

Lowell Community Health Center will institute a “triage” system to improve efficiencies in how patients are provided with enrollment assistance; extend enrollment hours at the health center; provide educational workshops for clinic and agency staff; develop a reminder checklist on the importance of reviewing correspondence from state offices and completing the re-determination form to avoid gaps in coverage; establish a tracking system that enables staff to reach clients with timeline reminders about renewal dates and post-enrollment issues; develop a comprehensive, multilingual patient education flyer with key insurance information; participate in local community health events to promote insurance counseling and enrollment; create a multilingual brochure listing available health insurance options; and offer quarterly onsite educational sessions for providers, front-line staff, and community agencies on health insurance topics.

To purchase an otoscope, EKG machine, medication, and nursing supplies.

Massachusetts Senior Action Council will continue to develop its capacity as an advocacy organization for seniors, in addition to its strong position as a community organizing entity.