The Pennsylvania Action Coalition (PA-AC) is among 10 organizations that will receive up to $25,000 each for new or ongoing work that addresses nursing’s role in building health equity, well-being, and promoting a Culture of Health, announced the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). We are excited to continue to share stories of nurses and the people they serve on the At the Core of Care podcast. We will showcase stories of nurses and their partners driving change by addressing the social determinants of health. The series will be incorporated into nursing school classrooms to inspire public health leadership and advocacy. All 2020 Nursing Innovation Fund awardees secured dollar to dollar matching funds from a variety of partners, including local county fire and emergency services, a state beef council, United Way, local foundations, health and hospital systems, universities, and individual donors, to name a few.
RWJF defines health equity as “everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care.” Additionally, the PA-AC, as part of its work, will focus on potential policy solutions to address a social determinant of health, including access to care, housing, social isolation, employment, or educational attainment.
The Campaign’s Nursing Innovations Fund was created in 2018 to support work for its state-based Action Coalitions and allies that inform and influence policy, produce replicable strategies that place nurses in positions as essential partners in providing care, and strategically involve a diversity of stakeholders. The competition was limited to the Action Coalitions or organizations designated by Action Coalitions and required applicants to raise funds to match the award dollars.
In addition to the award in Pennsylvania, the Campaign announced that Action Coalitions or their designees in Arkansas and Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming received awards.
The Pennsylvania Action Coalition is part of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a national initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and RWJF, working to implement the Institute of Medicine’s evidence-based recommendations on the future of nursing. The Campaign includes Action Coalitions in most states and the District of Columbia and a wide range of health care professionals, consumer advocates, policy-makers, and the business, academic, and philanthropic communities. The Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and RWJF, serves as the coordinating entity for the Campaign.
