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Prevention

A Smart Investment

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Prevention's Role in Reducing Health Care Spending

Big Savings by Cutting Chronic Disease Growth

Big Savings by Cutting Chronic Disease Growth

A study by the Urban Institute found that cutting the rate of chronic disease growth through prevention programs could save Medicare and Medicaid upwards of $50 billion per year by 2030. In addition, prevention can lower private insurance costs while reducing worker absenteeism due to illness.

Read the study

Institute of Medicine Report

For the Public's Health: Investing in a Healthier Future

For the Public's Health: Investing in a Healthier Future

According to the findings in this RWJF-funded report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), society’s fixation on clinical care, its deliv­ery, and its financing overshadows population-based activities that more efficiently and effectively improve the nation’s health. The health system’s failure to develop and deliver effective preventive strategies continues to take a grow­ing toll on the economy and society.

Read the report

Studies Show Substantial Savings from Prevention

Community-Based Approach May Be Best Medicine

Community-Based Approach May Be Best Medicine

Recent studies show how investing strategically in proven, community-based prevention programs could offer a substantial savings over traditional medical treatments for illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, lowering health care costs and improving people’s quality of life. This brief summarizes the findings and recommendations from four major studies released between 2008 and 2011.

Read the brief

Analysis of Clinical and Community Preventive Services

Impact of Preventive Services

Impact of Preventive Services

Researchers at the Partnership for Prevention analyzed the impact of highly-rated community and clinical preventive services, such as childhood immunizations, tobacco cessation counseling, and daily aspirin use to prevent heart disease, and found that they continue to be a good value because of their health impact and cost-effectiveness. The team also created analytic tools to assess the health and economic benefits of interventions to improve health and prevent disease at the community level.

Read the report

How Can the United States Keep Obesity-Related Health Care Costs Under Control?

Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases and health care costs in the country. Nearly 69% of Americans are overweight or obese. Related health care costs now exceed $147 billion annually, more than $60 billion of which is covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

Investments in efforts to prevent chronic health problems like obesity can have significant budget savings. Yet despite widespread evidence that prevention efforts can save lives and money, for every dollar spent on health care in the United States, only four cents goes towards public health and prevention.

Unless the obesity epidemic is reversed, overall medical spending will become untenable and outpace GDP growth. If obesity rates are reduced by as little as 5%, health care savings could exceed $29 billion.

Read the issue brief

Signs of Progress

Cities and states are reporting declining childhood obesity rates. Philadelphia, NYC, Mississippi, and California are fighting the epidemic head on—and seeing real changes.

Learn more

Longer Timeframe Needed to Calculate Full Cost of Obesity

To fully account for the cost savings that come from obesity-prevention programs, we need to expand the time horizon for estimating costs from 10 years to 25, says the authors, in a major report funded by RWJF.

Read the report

essay in the Atlantic

We Must Focus On Preventing Disease If We Want Our Nation To Thrive

Investing more in community- based prevention will be critical for the nation to prevent illness and control costs, argues RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey in an essay in The Atlantic.

Learn How We Work Toward

Public Health
Public Health

Policy Brief

Impact of Tobacco Prevention Programs

The laws and policies that reduce smoking—tobacco taxes, smoke-free air laws, and cessation programs—offer a powerful vehicle for improving health and reducing health care costs. This Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids brief summarizes the major studies on how tobacco-prevention programs have reduced smoking (for both adults and kids) and saved money on related health care costs.

Read the brief >

Overview of tobacco-prevention policies

Mapping States' Efforts

RWJF's interactive map offers a nationwide picture of continuing state efforts on key tobacco control policies, including smoke-free laws, cigarette tax rates, and total tobacco control spending.

See the map >

Most Requested

Topic

Vulnerable Populations

We create new opportunities for better health by investing in health where it starts—in our homes, schools, and jobs.

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Feature

Adverse Childhood Experiences: The Truth About ACEs

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is working to increase awareness and understanding of the impact of ACEs and the need to develop effectiv...

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Feature

RWJF DataHub

The RWJF DataHub tracks state-level data, and allows visitors to customize and visualize facts and figures.

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Feature

Forward Promise Innovation Grants

RWJF selects ten grantee organizations that excel in improving the health and success of young men of color

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Feature

Forward Promise

A new $9.5 million initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focused on promoting opportunities for the health and success of middle ...

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Grantee

Child First

Child First, an innovative home-visit program in Connecticut, is designed to stabilize families, connect them with social services, and help...

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Grantee

Stabilizing Highest Risk Families

Keeping Families Together replication effort pairs supportive housing and social services to strengthen fragile families, avert child remova...

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Grantee

RWJF Q&A With Martha Davis from the Institute for Safe Families

The Foundation spoke with Martha Davis, Executive Director for the Institute for Safe Families, on how leaders are changing the landscape of...

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Grantee

Positive Health

Building strengths to improve well-being and protect against illness.

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Blog Post

NY State Releases Health Improvement Plan

Prevention Agenda: New York State’s Health Improvement Plan is a 5-year plan to improve the health and quality of life for everyone who live...

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Topic

Childhood Trauma

Topic page on RWJF's investment in programs focused on childhood trauma.

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Blog Post

NewPublicHealth Q&A with Steven Woolf

A recent commentary article in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the biggest threat to public health actually ma...

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RWJF Home → Topics → Prevention → A Smart Investment
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