Health Systems

The overarching vision guiding the Foundation’s work in this area is for our healthcare and public health systems to be fair and just, treat all people with dignity and respect, and rectify past harms and prevent future ones. To advance equity, there must be both recognition of the existence and impact of structural racism within these systems and deep, community-level involvement in designing solutions.

In This Area

Healthcare Quality and Value

Providing the right healthcare at the right price, reducing disparities, and improving overall health outcomes.

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Healthcare Coverage and Access

Increasing enrollment in quality, affordable health coverage across the United States.

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A doctor checks a patient's glands during a check up.

Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Advancing policies and systems aimed at preventing illness and increasing opportunity for better health for all.

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Grantee Resource

Voices for Health Justice

We’re supporting grassroots coalitions to advance community-driven, anti-racist policies and reduce inequities.

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We’re supporting programs that:

Increase access to quality, affordable healthcare for all people
Gather and share data and evidence to make delivery systems and payment models more equitable
Center community leadership and shift power from traditional players to the community
Shift decision-making and accountability in healthcare, public health, and social services to stop perpetuating and normalizing long-standing inequities
Support health, healing, and thriving for people most affected by racism, inequity, discrimination, and historical trauma

Community-Driven Change

Community-Driven Change
Intentionally shifting power dynamics is critical to ensuring health and healthcare systems prioritize people more affected by inequitable systems, who often have the least power. RWJF programs support community-driven change.

Featured Initiatives

Voices for Health Justice: Led by Community Catalyst, Voices for Health Justice empowers community members and organizers to demand an equitable health system that supports racial and health justice.

National Birth Equity Collaborative: Working closely with those most affected by Black maternal health inequities, the National Birth Equity Collaborative aims to shift systems and culture to prioritize Black maternal, infant, sexual, and reproductive health.

Editor's Pick

Voices for Health Justice: This video from Community Catalyst shines a light on the issues facing those who have been historically marginalized and the community-driven solutions to tackle health inequities rooted in discrimination and structural racism.

Advancing Policy Change

Advancing Policy Change
Structural racism built into health and health care systems’ policies and practices perpetuate long-standing inequities. RWJF and its grantees actively advance policy change and build a field of anti-racist health policy experts, collaborating with advocates, community organizations, academics, and others.

Featured Initiatives

State Health & Value Strategies: Supported by RWJF, State Health and Value Strategies helps states transform health care systems—especially Medicaid programs—to be efficient, equitable, and innovative.

Urban Institute Policy Papers: The Urban Institute uses data and evidence to inform policymakers on a wide range of topics affecting upward mobility and equity.

Center for Health Care Strategies: The Center for Health Care Strategies identifies policies and programs to improve health outcomes of people enrolled in Medicaid who often face serious barriers to well-being.

Editor's Pick

State Network: StateNetwork.org offers policymakers and researchers timely resources for advancing state-level health policy issues including the Medicaid coverage gap, health equity, and COVID-19.

Making Systems More Inclusive

Making Systems More Inclusive
Structural racism in health and healthcare systems leads to vast inequities in health outcomes. RWJF supports programs in explicitly and boldly making systems more inclusive by changing policies, practices, and norms that perpetuate long-standing injustices.

Featured Initiatives

Raising the Bar: Co-led by the National Alliance to Impact the Social Determinants of Health and the National Partnership for Women & Families, Raising the Bar underscores healthcare’s roles and responsibilities in improving health and equity.

Advancing Health Equity: With support from RWJF, this program unites payers—including state Medicaid agencies and health plans—in identifying and eliminating disparities in health and healthcare by reforming payment and other incentives.

Aligning in Crisis: This program helps leaders work across sectors to maximize federal COVID-19 relief investments and lay a foundation for equitable responses to future crises.

Editor's Pick

Health Affairs’ “Racism & Health” Issue: The RWJF-supported February 2022 Health Affairs focuses on the complex relationship between racism and health and provides insights to transform research and policy.

Explore our other focus areas:

Leadership for Better Health

Programs to cultivate, engage, and leverage leaders to work across sectors, professions, and disciplines to build a Culture of Health.

Healthy Communities

Helping communities reach their greatest health potential by improving the contexts in which residents live, learn, work, and play.

Healthy Children and Families

Programs to ensure that all families have the resources they need to foster healthy development from their child’s earliest years.