Investing in a healthier Michigan.
This past year was a whirlwind of activity at the Health Fund. We'd like to take you on a tour of some of the publications, stories, partnerships, and investments that made 2019 our most exciting year yet.
More than $33 million in new funding.
We had five grant rounds this year, with awards totaling about $33.4 million. Grant programs included:
- Community Health Impact—$4.2 million given to 50 projects. Each aligned with one of our eight focus areas.
- Behavioral Health—$7.8 million given to 20 projects, focused on expanding access, integrating care, and growing the workforce.
- Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyles—$7.9 million given to 19 projects, centered around nutrition, wellness, and food access.
- Healthy Aging—$7.9 million given to 25 projects, supporting older adults and those who care for them.
- Special Projects & Emerging Ideas—$5.8 million given to 15 projects, chosen by invitation only for their potential for replication, expansion, or breakthroughs in their respective fields.
Learning—about Michigan and about ourselves.
Reports and publications help us better contextualize the work that we're doing and the gaps that we can help fill. We published a few in 2019, including our 2018 annual report, a technology report, and a behavioral health access study.
2018 ANNUAL REPORT
Is the work we’re supporting having the intended effect? Is it improving the health of Michigan residents? Is it leading to long-term change?
Every year, we look back at our funding from the year before and point out the highlights and trends. The 2018 report spotlights cognitive-behavioral therapy, caregiving, and culinary medicine, as well as a CEP survey that stacked us up against other funders.
THE ROLE OF HEALTH TECHNOLOGY IN MICHIGAN
Even within short windows of time, technology-based programs can be adaptable, straightforward, and have significant positive impacts on health, so long as they are seen as tools rather than the solution itself.
Health technology is one of the Health Fund's eight priority areas. This report highlighted the trends and standouts from nearly $13 million of funding in that area, and it explored how we can continue to fund programs that maximize our impact.
ACCESS TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE IN MICHIGAN
Of the 1.76 million Michiganders experiencing a mental illness, about 62% receive treatment, leaving 38%, more than 666,000 people, with unmet need.
We commissioned Altarum to study access and barriers to behavioral health services in the state. The report, released in July, made waves for its characterization of the critical unmet need for care in the state. We hope that the recommendations of the report not only improve our funding decisions, but also have an impact on policy and programming statewide.
Sharing your stories.
One of our favorite things to do is to spread the word about the great work our grant partners are doing, and we got a lot of chances to do that in 2019. From writing blog posts that provided an inside look at notable grant programs to promoting outside media content, we did our best to get the word out.
FEATURED ON THE BLOG
We periodically provide more in-depth profiles of projects we fund and our motivations behind the funding in our blog. Some highlights from this year:
- Helping our grant partners build capacity—Our partnership with Catchafire connects experienced professionals with our current and past grantees, for free.
- Flint Fresh's fresh take on food access—How a local nonprofit is investing in nutrition, food security, and Flint's future.
- Helping Mid-Michigan thrive—A collaborative effort to create place-based, system-wide health change in Michigan.
- The unpleasant reality of LGBT health disparities in Michigan—Recognizing the health challenges the LGBTQ community faces and supporting the organizations combatting those inequities.
- How school nutrition is fostering a culture of health in Michigan—The power of treating schools as not just academic institutions, but as health homes.
- Tribal traditions help children preserve culture, fight obesity—Food-as-medicine methods are bolstered by tradition for the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan.
PULLED FROM THE MEDIA ROOM
We love when our grant partners make the news! We keep tabs on media mentions in the media room on our website. Here are some notable examples:
- $500,000 grant is first for support of older LGBT adults in Michigan (Crain's Detroit, 1/22)
- Detroit firefighters battle growing health crisis (Detroit News, 2/7)
- A place to turn: New crisis hotline staffed by licensed mental health professionals (Traverse City Record Eagle, 3/24)
- Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital launches new behavioral health initiative (Upper Michigan Source, 5/2)
- Michigan Matters: Filling the Gaps in Education and Keeping Michiganders Healthier (CBS Detroit, 5/31)
- $5M pledged for new opioid addiction treatment program in public, private partnership (WVMT, 6/17)
- Oakland University Professors Develop ‘Hop-Up-PT’ Physical Therapy Program (Rochester Media, 6/27)
- Study: Untreated mental illness, substance abuse ‘staggering’ in Michigan (Bridge, 7/30)
- Program to help teens adopted from other countries (WOOD TV, 8/14)
- Nonprofit grows 'power of play' philosophy, training in Michigan (Crain's Detroit, 8/26)
- Dramatic expansion coming for program that helps seriously mentally ill in northern Michigan (Michigan Radio, 8/30)
- New program to target underserved populations with healthy eating, stress management tips (MSU Today, 9/13)
- STUDY: How Telemedicine Can Make Older Adults Healthier (Healthcare Facilities Today, 10/14)
- Battle Creek meetings bring schools, health providers, law enforcement together to help kids thrive (Second Wave Michigan, 10/24)
- A new program to prevent frailty (Today@Wayne, 11/13)
A FINGER ON THE PULSE
As important and impressive as our partners' work is, our interest in Michigan health goes beyond our own funding. Partnerships with Bridge's Michigan Health Watch and Second Wave Media's State of Health help us make sure health leaders and all that are interested can stay informed about pressing health challenges, important policy decisions, and promising solutions across the state and country.
Reporters for Michigan Health Watch cover the intersection of policy and health and the state's breaking news in the health realm:
- How healthy is your Michigan county? Use this map to find out. (April 24)
- High blood pressure is rampant in Michigan. Better data may lead to a cure. (May 29)
- Alzheimer’s in Michigan: The coming storm (July 29)
- Caro’s psychiatric hospital is saved. Michigan’s mental health crisis persists. (October 9)
- Michigan youth suicide rate doubles. What parents can do. (November 20)
Second Wave Media's State of Health series is turning its focus to integrated healthcare and the ways that approach can improve the health of Michigan residents:
- Michigan moms-to-be are trading traditional prenatal OB visits for group sessions – and loving it (July 25)
- Infant mental health programs create better futures for little Michiganders and their parents (August 15)
- Here's how educators are learning to empathetically foster resilience in children affected by trauma (September 26)
- Battle Creek meetings bring schools, health providers, law enforcement together to help kids thrive (October 24)
- Integrating behavioral health into pediatric care holds longterm benefits (November 7)
Thank you!
To all of our grant partners and applicants, as well as all who work with us on a daily basis—thanks. Your passion for protecting the health of Michigan residents inspires us to dream bigger. Every grant round brings us a new boost of energy as more innovative, ambitious, and grounded proposals appear in our portal. We're so grateful. See you in 2020.