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Utah Action Coalition Named an Innovation Fund Awardee
Salt Lake City – The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), recently announced the Utah Action Coalition for Health is among nine of its state-based organizations that will receive up to a $25,000 Innovation Fund award to supports its work. The winners were selected based on their submissions of replicable plans to advance at least one recommendation from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the future of nursing while connecting their work to RWJF’s efforts to build a “Culture of Health,” where everyone has the opportunity to live a healthier life.
The competition was limited to the Campaign’s state-based “Action Coalitions,” which had to raise matching funds to be considered. The funds awarded to Utah were matched by Intermountain Healthcare, Mountain Star Healthcare, Utah Nursing Consortium and Utah Hospital Association. The Utah Action Coalition has partnerships with the University of Utah College of Nursing, and it’s non-nursing partner, HealthInsight, a nonprofit, community-based health care consulting organization dedicated to improving health and health care.
In addition to the award in Utah, the Campaign announced that Action Coalitions in Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia are recipients of the awards.
“We are tremendously proud to be selected and look forward to building on our work to implement the IOM’s future of nursing recommendations, while helping to make Utah healthier,” said Dr. Teresa Garrett, Utah Nursing Consortium project director and Utah Action Coalition for Health co-lead. “The more diverse perspectives and experiences that are included in nursing practice, the more successful nurses will be in creating and building a culture of health, enabling all Utahans, including those of a diverse background, to lead healthy lives now, and for generations to come. We are grateful to AARP Foundation, AARP, and RWJF for this support.”
Gayle Sturgis, HealthInsight project manager and Utah Action Coalition for Health co-lead, said that with this funding, the Utah Action Coalition for Health will focus on conducting outreach to middle and high school counselors and science educators as well as a student mentoring and support system to ensure completion of academic programs. Additionally, a focal point will be to provide support through a mentoring program, for diverse, early career nursing professionals to assume their first leadership position.
“This program is designed to spur progress by supporting Action Coalitions,” said Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, RWJF senior adviser for nursing and director of the Campaign for Action. “The Foundation is committed to providing states with the support they need to build a more highly educated, diverse nursing workforce that will improve patient care and work towards building a Culture of Health. This initiative marks a continuing commitment by the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action to the Action Coalitions to keep working on these efforts.”
The goal for this two-year award is to assist in the creation of replicable strategies that sustain Action Coalition work while highlighting the importance of collaboration with diverse stakeholders.
About the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action
Utah Action Coalition for Health 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 50 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. Learn more at www.campaignforaction.org. Follow the Campaign for Action on Twitter at @Campaign4Action and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CampaignForAction.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.
About HealthInsight
HealthInsight is a recognized leader in convening and partnering with our communities to improve health and health care by advancing quality, efficiency and value for patients and providers. HealthInsight Utah serves as a catalyst, using collaborative efforts to facilitate and promote the quality and safety of health care to achieve improved outcomes and value for all Utahans. Learn more at healthinsight.org.
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Dear Dave,
Do you believe the adult child of a senior citizen, who is physically and mentally healthy but has neglected to plan for retirement, should be burdened with providing financial assistance to that parent?
Robbie
Dear Robbie,
Based on the wording in your question, I can only believe you don’t think the adult child should be “burdened” to provide this assistance. My guess is you’re talking about one of your own parents. I understand that you might be aggravated with a parent who has been irresponsible with their money. But in my mind, there’s a bigger question. How big is the burden?
I talked to a guy recently who was making $1.5 million a year. He was questioning whether he should help his dad — an older man in poor health, who didn’t handle his money well — by giving him $1,000 a month. There’s no question you give that guy money. You’re making millions, but you don’t want to help your sick dad? Come on! But if you bring home $2,000 a month, and your family is barely getting by, you’re not morally required to financially take care of a parent who was irresponsible with their money.
It’s all relative. Do you have the money? Can you provide this help without placing an undue burden on yourself and your family? If the answer is yes, you may be asking more about your own aggravation than any sort of moral obligation.
But no, you’re not morally obligated to destroy your own life, or your family, to take care of a relative who didn’t take care of themselves financially.
—Dave
(Separate emergency fund?)
Word count: 214
Dear Dave,
I’ve going to be debt-free with a full emergency fund in pace by the end of the year. I’m going to get a dog after that, but I wanted to make sure I did it the right way and was in good financial shape before making that move. Is a separate emergency fund for pets a good idea?
Scott
Dear Scott,
My wife and I love animals. We’ve had a least one dog the whole time we’ve been married. Still, I think a full emergency fund of three to six months of expenses will cover you and your pet.
You go through some expense as a pet owner, along with happy, wonderful times and heartbreaking things, too. We lost our golden retriever recently, and I can tell you that was really hard on everyone. You love them like they’re family, but you still have to use common sense sometimes, and remember that they’re animals and not human beings. Part of that includes spending reasonable amounts of money on them — and in some unfortunate cases — doing things with the animal’s best interest, not our own desires, in mind.
What is a reasonable amount? That depends on how stable you are financially. It’s really a ratio question of expense to means. But no, I wouldn’t recommend a second emergency fund just for pets.
—Dave
* Dave Ramsey is CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best-selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 14 million listeners each week on 600 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on the web at daveramsey.com and on Twitter at @DaveRamsey
