Attorney General Maura Healey announced nearly $3 million in funding under a new grant program focused on addressing the social determinants of health, including nutrition, safe housing, violence prevention, and substance use, all of which impact the health of individuals, families and communities. Among the recipients of the grant was Ecumenical Social Action Committee (ESAC) of Jamaica Plain. AG Healey’s Social Determinants Partnership program will provide grants to promote health equity across Massachusetts to 13 partnerships made up of health care providers, social service organizations, and municipal government agencies.
Ecumenical Social Action Committee (ESAC) of Jamaica Plain will work in partnership with the Uphams’ Corner Health Committee Inc. and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Through this partnership, ESAC will work with the Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), a program administered by MassHealth and Medicare, to provide a range of in-home care and services to elderly patients, such as assessing and modifying their homes to reduce the risk of falls. The grant totaled $240,000.
“As a state and as a country, we continue to spend most of our health care dollars treating people who are already sick, rather than investing to keep people healthy,” said AG Healey. “These grants will support new partnerships to improve nutrition, housing, and other social determinants to protect the health of every Massachusetts resident.” The Social Determinants Partnership grants are funded by recent settlements reached by the AG’s Health Care Division.