Institutional Member of the Month: Humana Foundation

Humana Foundation

Tell us about your institution. What’s your mission? 

As the philanthropic arm of Humana Inc., the Humana Foundation is committed to advancing health equity by working to eliminate unjust, avoidable and unnecessary barriers in health and healthcare.

We specifically support seniors, veterans and school-aged children in living connected, healthy lives. We frame our strategy around three key areas: Advocacy, research, and grant making.

• We create healthy emotional connections as a vital part of our holistic approach to care.
• We shape a healthier approach to nutrition that supports lifelong health and wellbeing.
• We deploy our knowledge and resources as stewards of good health in communities across the country.

Our four key commitment domains include Connected Healthy Lives, Health Equity Innovation Fund, Disaster Philanthropy, and Research. With a strategic plan focused on four commitments, the Humana Foundation seeks partners with a similar vision of removing barriers to support greater healthy equity.

We partner with local communities and trusted community organizations in Louisville, KY, Texas, Florida and Louisiana to create a network of support for people confronting life’s challenges, regardless of their age, race, ethnicity, or gender identity. We also partner with national non-profit organizations and academic institutions. The Humana Foundation supports a diverse project portfolio centered around our core commitments.

Why did you decide to make the connection between your program and IAPHS?

Our research strategy is designed to generate knowledge that translates into practical solutions for removing barriers that prevent seniors, veterans, and school-aged children from living healthy, connected lives. The Humana Foundation is aligned with IAPHS’s commitment to fostering scientific innovation and research to improve population health and reduce health disparities. We recognize IAPHS as an important scientific community in the service of improved health, well-being, and health equity. In partnership with IAPHS, we have supported the Humana Foundation Excellence in Health Equity Research Award.

We’d love to hear more about the research your members engage in. What are some themes that run through the research in your program?

Through an invitation-only research grants program, the Humana Foundation supports solution-focused, innovative, and interdisciplinary research with an emphasis on community-centered collaborations that will contribute to improving health equity for underserved and racially and ethnically diverse communities in the United States. Like the other Humana Foundation programs, the research grants program focuses on awarding support that creates healthy emotional connections and shapes a healthier approach to nutrition for seniors, school-aged children and veterans. We currently partner with academic institutions for the program. The studies we support address various health equity challenges in nutrition and emotional health (nutrition security, nutrition-related conditions, suicide prevention, and promotion of mental health with an emphasis on social connectedness). The studies have community-engaged research components, including community-based participatory research methods. They also intend to provide practical implications for public health or healthcare policy and practice.

Are there any recent research projects/grants/publications that you’d like to highlight?

We launched our research grants program in 2023. Our current research partnerships include studies on:

• Nutrition Education and Security: Our grants support examining the effectiveness of various nutrition programs designed for different population groups. These studies not only address nutrition security and nutrition-related health outcomes, but also explore the programs’ potential positive impact on emotional health, including social connectedness as a key factor in health.

• Youth Suicide Prevention: Recognizing the mental health crisis among youth, we are supporting research into preventive strategies that can reduce suicide risk and foster resilience in young people with a focus on marginalized youth and culturally appropriate approaches.

• Support for Caregivers of Seniors: With many caregivers facing unique challenges, this research focuses on programs and processes that can enhance their well-being and ensure they have the resources they need to care for loved ones.

We announced the 2024 research grants a few months ago. Led by diverse researchers, four research teams will investigate the effectiveness of interventions in shaping a healthier approach to nutrition, and three will study the emotional health of seniors and school-aged children. More details can be found in our press release: https://news.humana.com/press-room/press-releases/2024/humana-foundation-awards–15-2m-in-grants-to-support-emotional.html.

What makes your institution interested in interdisciplinary work?

The Humana Foundation values interdisciplinary work because it is essential for addressing complex health equity challenges faced by diverse communities. By bringing together experts from diverse fields, including community stakeholders, we can better understand and address barriers to healthy emotional connections and approaches to nutrition. Interdisciplinary collaboration allows us to bridge gaps in knowledge and foster innovative solutions that are grounded in the lived experiences and needs of the communities we serve. This approach helps us foster research that is actionable, equitable, and beneficial to all communities, particularly those that are underserved or disproportionately affected by health inequities.

Would you like to say something about who is answering these questions? How would the interested IAPHS members be able to contact you?

Soojin Conover serves as the Humana Foundation’s Innovation Portfolio Strategy Principal. In her role, she leads the Foundation’s data and research strategy, including research grants program, to ground its work in data-driven analysis and evidence-based research to address health equity issues in emotional health, nutrition, and food security.

Please use the Contact Us form: https://www.humanafoundation.org/content/humana-foundation-org/us/en/contact-us.html or send an email to: humanafoundation@humana.com. You can also find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/the-humana-foundation/