Archived Publications
Planning for the Future, 2018 Highmark Foundation Giving Report
April 2019
This report highlights the Foundation’s efforts to improve population health today and in the future through its grantmaking.
Advancing Cancer Care and Women's Health, 2017 Highmark Foundation Giving Report
Sept. 2018
This report demonstrates the positive impact the Foundation has had on cancer care and women's health through initiatives funded in 2017.
Engaging & Empowering Communities by Building Capacity to Address HIV/AIDS and STDs
April 2018
This white paper is the result of the Highmark Foundation's funding of 10 organizations to address HIV/AIDS and STDS through mini-grants. The positive outcomes of these programs indicate that although much has been learned, challenges remain.
Pennsylvania Bullying Prevention Toolkit
2017
The Pennsylvania Bullying Prevention Toolkit helps to educate and bridge current gaps in the system and ensures that parents and various agencies have a fast track to assessing and meeting needs when a bullying situation causes distress in families. By supporting the development of this toolkit, the Highmark Foundation seeks to provide a lasting and valued resource to address difficult bullying incidents.
Bullying Prevention: Parent Guide
2017
This Parent Guide, produced by the Center for Safe Schools through a Highmark Foundation grant, was guided by input from parents and organizations that serve youth. It represents Highmark Foundation's commitment to improve children’s health and well-being.
Bullying Prevention: School Administrator Guide
2017
The Administrator Guide to Bullying Prevention, produced by the Center for Safe Schools through funding provided by the Highmark Foundation, was created with input from school administrators and bullying prevention trainers. It represents the Highmark Foundation's commitment to improve children's health and well-being.
Bullying Prevention: Out-of-School and Afterschool Guide
2017
This Guide, produced by the Center for Safe Schools and Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN), was developed with funding provided by the Highmark Foundation. It was informed by research and the perspectives of youth development and bullying prevention practitioners. It represents the Highmark Foundation's commitment to improve children’s health and well-being.
Bullying Prevention: Urban Schools Guide
2017
This guide, produced by the Center for Safe Schools and the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at Windber Research Institute, was developed with funding provided by the Highmark Foundation. It was informed by research and the perspectives of urban educators from around the United States. It represents the Highmark Foundation's commitment to improve children’s health and well-being.
A Public Health Approach to Leading Bullying Prevention: The Highmark Foundation's Impact Since 2006
Dec. 2017
This report discusses the enduring impact of the Highmark Foundation's bullying prevention work since 2006.
Getting Health Right: Now and for the Future, 2016 Highmark Foundation Giving Report
April 2017
This report demonstrates the positive impact the Foundation has had on people, schools and communities through initiatives funded in 2016.
Population-Level Measures to Predict Obesity Burden in Public Schools: Looking Upstream for Midstream Actions
2016
Researchers from Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana) generated a number of very novel and important findings by merging the Health eTools data set with other publically-available data sets to estimate school-level burden of obesity, based on the characteristics of kindergarten through grade 12 students socioeconomic and geographic environments in 43 counties in Pennsylvania.
Stemming the Flood
Sept. 2016
Stemming the Flood offers a comprehensive look at efforts to prevent childhood obesity using Health eTools for Schools data from 1,114 Pennsylvania Schools in 293 districts and 53 counties. This work is the result of the Highmark Foundation's funding of Force for Health Foundation and Indiana University School of Public Health (Bloomington).
Improving Child Health Outcomes
Sept. 2016
Improving Child Health Outcomes provides highlights from Stemming the Flood, which offers a comprehensive look at efforts to prevent childhood obesity using Health eTools for Schools data from 1,114 Pennsylvania Schools in 293 districts and 53 counties. This work is the result of the Highmark Foundation's funding of Force for Health Foundation and Indiana University School of Public Health (Bloomington).
Working with the Super-Utilizer Population: The Experience and Recommendations of Five Pennsylvania Programs
2015
This white paper is the result of the Highmark Foundation's funding of Wellspan Health to support a Learning Collaborative for Super-Utilizer projects among five health systems. A learning community was created to share ideas, best practices, patient data and cost savings to transform the delivery of health care in the Central Pennsylvania region. The positive outcomes of these programs have provided solid evidence that super-utilizer programs create value for systems and patients.
Reducing Barriers to Physical Activity for Adjudicated Youth: Implementing Promising Solutions to Improve Health Outcomes
Dec. 2015
This white paper is the result of the Highmark Foundation's funding of one residential placement facility located in western Pennsylvania, to successfully build capacity to improve nutrition and physical activity opportunities for adjudicated youth with two evidence-based programs. The programs were created to address childhood obesity. The positive outcomes of these programs provide evidence that including a certified fitness trainer yields promising and replicable results for adjudicated youth.
Stories of Success in Bullying Prevention
Nov. 2015
The Highmark Foundation has invested more than $10 million in bullying prevention. Its bullying prevention strategy was developed and implemented in partnership with the Center for Safe Schools and the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Windber Research Institute. This report highlights valuable lessons learned about bullying prevention from Pennsylvania schools involved in Highmark Foundation initiatives.
Two Organizations Working to Reduce Low Birth Weight: Different Methods, Comparable Results
Aug. 2015
This white paper is the result of the Highmark Foundation's funding of two western Pennsylvania organizations' efforts to reduce low birth weight. It focuses on the impact that doulas and other supportive services have on improving maternal and child health outcomes. The programs were designed to reduce barriers to accessing care and demonstrate a new way to solve health problems. The positive outcomes of these programs have provided solid evidence that using doulas with supportive services yields promising results.
2015 Highmark Foundation Giving Report
April 2015
The report demonstrates the positive impact of Highmark Foundation's 15 years of investing in community health.
Patient Navigation Eases Clinical Workforce Challenges — Without Clinical Expertise
2014
This report is the result of the Highmark Foundation's patient navigation pilot program in collaboration with Accenture. It focuses on the impact that lay patient navigation has on improving health outcomes in three western Pennsylvania hospitals targeting priority areas and health needs of the communities served. The program itself is meant to reduce barriers to accessing care, promote workforce development and demonstrate a new way to solve health problems. The positive outcomes of the pilot have provided solid evidence that patient navigation yields positive results.
Changing Lives: Engaging People, Places and Systems to Improve Health Outcomes, 2014 Highmark Foundation Giving Report
April 2014
This report demonstrates the positive impact the Foundation has had on people and communities through initiatives funded in 2014.
Preventing Bullying in Schools Through Partnerships
April 2012
This report focuses on the Highmark Foundation's continued efforts to prevent bullying in schools and its implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP). The Highmark Foundation’s goal was to expose as many schools as possible in its service region to the OBPP. The program itself is meant to reduce bullying and to increase schools' capacities to prevent bullying. The positive outcomes of the coalition have provided solid evidence that bullying prevention investments yield positive results.
Maternal Depression: Strengthening Systems of Care
Dec. 2011
This report highlights community and programmatic strategies supported by one national and several local grants to reduce maternal depression. These public health strategies provide greater access to coordinated maternal and child health care through cohesive systems-level approaches. As a result of these proactive approaches, mothers, children and families have access to affordable, quality resources to assist with challenges associated with maternal depression.
Working Together: Improving Access to Oral Care and Dental Care for Underserved Populations
Dec. 2010
This report, published in 2010, details the successful comprehensive and multilevel strategy that helped improve the quality of oral health and dental care among underserved individuals and individuals with special needs in Pennsylvania. The Highmark Foundation targeted its funding towards safety net providers across the Commonwealth.
Hospitals: Strengthening Systems & Supporting Communities
June 2010
This report issued in June 2010 highlights programs and services developed and offered by community hospitals and health systems to assist communities in preventing or reducing illnesses and chronic diseases, and in providing greater access for the uninsured. The grants provided rural and urban hospitals with resources to increase access to care and to build capacity to implement and deliver a wide range of programs and services.
Translating Community-Based Participatory Research into Practical Solutions
Nov. 2009
This report, published in November 2009, reviews practical evidence-based solutions and programs created from community-based participatory research (CBPR) designed to reduce the burden of chronic disease in underserved populations.
Safety Net Providers: Filling the Gap, Increasing Access and Improving Health Outcomes
Sept. 2009
This September 2009 report discusses the ability of safety net providers such as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), also known as Community Health Centers (CHCs), Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alikes (FQHC-LAs), Free Clinics, and Rural Health Centers (RHCs) to reduce costs of chronic disease through access to preventive health programs.
Improving Access to Diabetes Care and Services in Pennsylvania through Coordinated Strategies
June 2009
Issued in June 2009, this report details community-based programs and services created to reduce the effect of diabetes. These programs aimed to increase access to diabetes care and services for minorities and underserved individuals in western and central Pennsylvania.
Addressing the Nursing Shortage in Pennsylvania through Grantmaking
March 2009
This report published in March 2009 details the Highmark Foundation's efforts to fund five colleges and universities in Pennsylvania to establish scholarships, enhance simulation centers and develop different teaching modalities to enhance their capacity to recruit and retain students.