Foundations Programs: Health Care

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Since 1981, the Foundations have focused grants in health care on “caring attitudes.” Trustees have been concerned that advances in technology and continuing changes in the health care system have diminished the humane aspects of patient care. Patients and their families often feel that their emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs are not adequately met when confronting illness. Grants in recent years have been directed toward strengthening medical school training in areas of communication, compassion, and sensitivity; improving end of life and palliative care; and other projects focused primarily on individual groups of health care professionals.

The focus of the caring attitudes effort has recently been expanded to encourage projects at a systemic level that contribute to improving patients' experiences of health care. There continues to be a need for a more integrated approach to patient care whether during an outpatient visit or in a hospital setting. Particular areas of interest include projects that promote caring attitudes through: inter-professional collaboration within the health care team; training of health care providers in patient-centered care; and improving the culture of physician education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Projects designed to leverage improvements in patient care throughout a delivery system will be most competitive.

Preference will be given to institutions and organizations with the visibility and organizational capacity to develop programs likely to be replicated nationally. Proposals should be submitted by the head of the institution under whose auspices the project would be accomplished. Contributions of the requesting institution and other sources of project support should be identified. Grants made in this program area normally range from $100,000-$200,000.

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