The Healthcare Foundation of NJ periodically initiates special projects, offering technical assistance or facilitating models of care in health arenas that are ripe for strategic support. Several examples are noted below.
The Healthcare Foundation Center for Humanistic Medicine within New Jersey Medical School
Funded in 2003 with a commitment to scholarship and an endowment of $3.2 million, this center for medical education - the first of its kind in the nation - trains future physicians to impart compassion, cultural sensitivity, and humanistic approaches to their practice of quality medical care.
The Lester Z. Lieberman Humanism in Healthcare Award
This program was begun in 1997 to recognize hospital employees, nursing students, and faculty in positions of direct patient care who demonstrate extraordinary compassion and kindness in their treatment of patients and families. Participation is invited from hospitals, long term care facilities and nursing schools in the region. Each honoree receives a $500 award and a Certificate of Recognition and is honored at an annual gala. In 2012 the Lester Z. Lieberman Leadership Award for Humanism in Healthcare was awarded to to Cherie Castellano, MA, a psychologist/Licensed Clinical Social Worker/Professional Counselor, who was recognized for her extraordinary body of work building caring networks that connect people to the support, understanding, and resources they need to cope with stress and trauma and rebuild their lives. In addition, 34 healthcare workers from Essex, Morris & Union Counties were honored for their dedication to this cause. For a list of 2012's honorees, click here.
Although often undiagnosed and untreated, delirium is a common, serious, and potentially preventable condition that is generally understood to be sudden disorientation and mental confusion that develops in hospitalized patients. Delirium can result in shortened attention span and fluctuating levels of consciousness. Symptoms ranging from quiet lack of connection to the external environment to incoherent speech, severe anxiety, and even hallucinations and high aggressive behavior can disappear shortly after discharge or persist long after the patient has left the hospital. Each year, delirium results in increased morbidity and mortality for at-risk patients and complicates and lengthens hospital stays, resulting in increased need for post-hospital institutionalization, rehabilitation, and home care.
To help combat this problem, HFNJ issued a Request for Proposals to seven local hospitals in the spring of 2011, with the goal of improving patient care and reducing hospital costs. Four hospitals were awarded a total of $400,000 to enhance or initiate HAD projects:
1.Foundation of Morristown Medical Center – to expand its Hospital Acquired Delirium Program by hiring a physical therapist to institute an early mobilization /ambulation program for at-risk patients.
2.Foundation of UMDNJ – to expand University Hospital’s interdisciplinary approach to combating HAD among patients 50+ years of age in its ICU and Trauma Units
through music and massage therapy and more extensive education for families and staff.
3.Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Foundation – to initiate a program to prevent, identify, and treat HAD among patients 65 years of age and older. HFNJ funding supports the hire of an Activity Therapist to institute preventive/treatment protocols and the creation of an Activity Room on the pilot nursing unit, along with other physical changes that will enhance safety for those at risk.
4.Overlook Hospital Foundation – to enhance its existing HAD program by hiring four part-time Elderlife Specialists – social workers with geriatric and recreational experience – to provide for the needs of at-risk patients and their families, obtain social histories from patients that become the basis of some HAD interventions, educate families and staff, and collect data through daily rounds and by talking to nurses.
An independent investigator from Columbia University has been retained by HFNJ to help projects collect and analyze data that will, we hope, inform hospital clinicians about effective protocols and administrators about cost savings that will result in their supporting these programs in future years.
Early Childhood Mental Health Promotion & Access Initiative
A well-documented need to support the healthy social and emotional development of the area’s most vulnerable young children led to this four-year, $2 million signature demonstration project of The Healthcare Foundation.
As part of the project, three neighborhood-based behavioral health programs were funded: two in Newark, and one in Irvington. Each program increases access to behavioral health services by providing a model of direct service within preschool, toddler, or infant care settings, as well as ongoing training and consultation for professional and family caregivers.
A cross-program evaluation was conducted by the Institute for Families, Rutgers School of Social Work. To download the Executive Summary and Policy Brief of that Report, click here and scroll down to Publications.
Newark School-Based Health Centers
Now in their 12th year, Newark school-based health centers – currently located in five Newark Public Schools – offer easy access to full service primary care for infants and children up to age 21. The centers have been converted into federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and some have added dental care and behavioral health to their menu of services offered. Now recognized as a key component of the provision of primary care in Newark, the centers are slated to double in number over the course of the next 2-3 years with funding from Newark’s Living Cities Initiative and other donors. A year-long assessment and strategic planning process funded by HFNJ is now underway to ensure the most effective and efficient growth and operation of existing and projected sites.Now in their 12th year, Newark school-based health centers – currently located in five Newark Public Schools – offer easy access to full service primary care for infants and children up to age 21. The centers have been converted into federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and some have added dental care and behavioral health to their menu of services offered. Now recognized as a key component of the provision of primary care in Newark, the centers are slated to double in number over the course of the next 2-3 years with funding from Newark’s Living Cities Initiative and other donors. A year-long assessment and strategic planning process funded by HFNJ is now underway to ensure the most effective and efficient growth and operation of existing and projected sites.
Technical Assistance for Grantees & Applicants
The Foundation periodically develops and conducts workshops for current and prospective grantees on such topics as how to write a successful proposal and how to evaluate your project’s effectiveness, or to encourage collaborations between agencies doing similar work. Upcoming workshop topics and dates are publicized on this website when they have been scheduled.
