Giving Compass' Take:

• A report at Grantmakers in Aging offers solutions for more engaging, expansive opportunities that can help funders invest in health care equity during coronavirus.

• What is COVID-19 exposing about the gaps in equity in health care systems? What can you do to support further research on the success and failures of certain investments in health care equity?

• Read more about how COVID-19 is pinpointing glaring gaps in health care.


People with complex health and social needs cannot reliably get the care and support that they need -- a problem that resonates with any funder concerned with health care or social services delivery, health equity, social justice, or vulnerable populations. This report summarizes key issues relevant to understanding complex care and offers resources and case studies for funders interested in entering the field or deepening their existing work. In the hope of engaging more funders and inspiring increased investment in this space, it profiles funding opportunities, explores existing models, and shares philanthropic lessons learned.

By presenting a range of approaches, large and small, the report may assist funders of all types and sizes whose grantees deliver important forms of community and system-based care to view their work through the lens of complex care.

Topics include the social determinants of health; the need for new partnerships between health systems and community and nonprofit organizations; a sampling of models of care and modes of financing that are fueling change; the need to listen to patients, families, and communities in creating and executing programs, and to build a workforce well-suited to doing so; programs to help small organizations collaborate with large health systems fairly and sustainably; a reflection on the health and social inequalities laid bare by COVID-19 and how the pandemic may help shape complex care policy; and insights from key practitioners and thoughts leaders in the field, elicited through several original interviews

Read the full report about health care equity during COVID-19 at Grantmakers in Aging.