By Geralyn Magan
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) annual Award for Health Equity is designed to honor individuals using systems changes to address health disparities and work toward achieving health equity within their communities.
LeadingAge has been awarded a 6-year, $52,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to help establish an annual Award for Health Equity.
Each year’s award winner will receive $3,000.
The RWJF grant is designed to help national nonprofit membership organizations honor individuals using systems changes to address health disparities and work toward achieving health equity within their communities. Eight other organizations also received a RWJF grant and will establish an Award for Health Equity.
The Health Equity Award will become part of LeadingAge’s annual awards program. Each year, LeadingAge will independently solicit and evaluate nominations for the Health Equity Award from members, and select a winner for the award. Winners will be announced at each year’s LeadingAge Annual Meeting and EXPO, and during an annual recognition and learning event sponsored by RWJF.
Alisha Sanders, director of housing and services policy research at LeadingAge, reports that several LeadingAge members are bringing new services and resources to their communities to increase access to health care, address the social determinants of health, and improve opportunities for vulnerable and disadvantaged older adults to achieve good health outcomes.
“We’re honored to collaborate with RWJ to recognize the efforts of these members to help drive delivery system changes that will result in greater health equity for older adults across the country,” she said.
About the Health Equity Award
The Awards for Health Equity are part of RWJF’s efforts to build a national Culture of Health that improves lives and reduces health disparities by improving public safety, employment, housing, and education systems.
“As a nation, we will not be able to achieve a Culture of Health without ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to live in healthy environments, make healthy choices, and receive quality health care,” said RWJF Program Officer Catherine Malone. “By celebrating those who have successfully implemented systems changes related to the determinants of health, we hope to heighten awareness of the promising potential that systems changes have to eliminate health disparities and move us closer to health equity in our society.”