John A. Hartford Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The John A. Hartford Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on improving healthcare for elderly people in the U.S.

IP TAKE: The John A. Hartford Foundation envisions a “nation where all older adults receive high-value evidence-based health care, are treated with respect and dignity and have their goals and preferences honored.” Its grantmaking focuses on research and policy development toward the adoption of evidence-based models for excellence in eldercare, including support for family caregivers and a broad expansion of palliative and end-of-life services. This funder does not accepts unsolicited proposals, working mainly with top universities, research institutes and policy organizations, many of which receive ongoing support. If you feel your organization is a good fit for Hartford, reach out to a program officer, but this will likely be a tough nut to crack.

PROFILE: Founded in 1929, the Manhattan-based John A. Hartford Foundation was established as a philanthropic outlet for John A. Hartford and his brother George L. Hartford, both former chief executives of the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, which was also known as the A&P grocery chain. Though it started out supporting biomedical research, the foundation has increasingly become focused on geriatric research and access to care. Today, its mission is “[t]o improve the care of older adults.” This funder maintains three grantmaking areas: Age-Friendly Health Systems, Family Caregiving and Serious Illness and End of Life.

Grants for Public Health

Hartford’s three grantmaking areas all focus on the care of elderly people in the U.S., but grants also support research on elderly care, support programs for family caregivers and the dissemination of information about best practices for elder care. Grantmaking is conducted through the following three programs:

  • Hartford’s Age-Friendly Health Systems grants support efforts “create health systems that are age-friendly.” The programs names three specific goals: preventing harm, improving outcomes and lowering costs associated with elder care. A significant portion of funding from this program has supported research on quality, cost and accessibility to care, as well as dissemination about best practices to medical professionals and the public. Grantees include the Jewish Healthcare Foundation’s Health Careers Futures program and a UCSF study entitled “Launching and Empowering a National Age-Friendly Health Systems Research Community

    This initiative also runs a signature program, the Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative, which provides training and information to healthcare providers, long-term care facilities, pharmacies and others leading to an Age-Friendly Systems designation by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

  • The Family Caregiving program supports recognition and support of family caregivers by large-scale health systems. Specific goals of this grantmaking include:

    • Creating an infrastructure through which healthcare systems are better able to “identify, assess, and support family caregivers”;

    • Increasing awareness of caregivers and their needs among healthcare stakeholders including policymakers, healthcare executives, health funders and others;

    • Effecting “large-scale change” in the family caregiver support system.

Grants stemming from the Family Caregiving area have supported the National Alliance for Caregiving, the National Academy for State Health Policy and research on caregiver support at Rush University Medical Center and UCLA.

  • The Serious Illness and End of Life initiative focuses on end-of-life care that “that preserves dignity and honors the wishes of older adults and their families.” The program aims to “increase access to high-quality palliative care” and to support education and training for professionals involved in end-of-life care. A portion of grants from this program also support policy development and the dissemination of information about best practices in this field.

Grantees of this program include an initiative by FAIR Health on transparency of cost information and decision-making for older adults with health conditions and research on palliative and end-of-life care at the University of Washington, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai and Columbia University.

Important Grant Details

The John A. Hartford Foundation’s grants generally range from $100,000 to over $3 million.

  • A majority of grants support research and policy development, as opposed to direct services and healthcare providers.

  • Grantees tend to be major players in the field, with the potential to effect significant and wide-spread change in elder care.

  • For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s grants database.

This funder does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding. However, the foundation offers contact information for its program officers on its staff page. Grantseekers should read the foundation’s grantmaking overview and review its database of past grants to ascertain if their organization is a good fit for this funder. The foundation may be reached by telephone at 212-832-7788.

PEOPLE:

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