Community Health and Health Equity Funding

Overview

ECOCH supports Massachusetts General Hospital clinical departments in achieving their community health improvement goals by providing guidelines, technical assistance and grant support.

Eligibility

• Any Mass General faculty, staff or trainee may apply as individuals or teams with their departmental chief’s support.
• Applicants must identify one faculty or staff member to lead and provide direct oversight to the proposed project.

Selection Criteria

A multidisciplinary team of community health leaders will review all proposals. Projects must enhance clinical departments’ abilities to improve community health and advance health equity. Proposals may not seek to supplant funds already supporting current efforts but could expand or add new components to existing projects. Preference will be given to:

• Projects that focus on one or more of ECOCH’s current strategic priorities of access to care, social determinants of health and race equity.
• Proposals that demonstrate a good-faith effort to engage their departmental community health leaders and incorporate other suggestions described in the clinical department guidelines.
• Projects that demonstrate an inclusive planning process, ideally engaging multiple staff and, when relevant, members of the communities to be served.
• Proposals that provide robust measurement and evaluation plans, realistic timelines and detailed sustainability plans.

How to Apply

Submission Requirements

Applications should be single-spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins, maximum five pages exclusive of references, budget and chief letters. Applications should include:

1. Project title
2. Project members and roles specifying one person who would be leading the project and providing oversight
3. Proposed plan
   • Specific aims
   • Population to be served
   • Project description
     • How this project will address one of the three ECOCH strategic priorities
     • How will it engage your department and departmental leadership in community health
     • Please describe your planning process
   • Background and preliminary data on the problem you are addressing
   • Methods including measurement and evaluation plan
   • Timeline incorporating key milestones
   • Sustainability plan describing how this project could continue benefiting the community once funding ends
   • IRB submission if applicable (please note that funding will not start until IRB approval notice is provided)
   • References
4. Proposed budget and justification cannot exceed $30,000 total costs inclusive of indirect costs over 1 year
5. Letters of support
   • By chiefs of departments involved, stating their support and commitment to this project while describing the departmental structure in place to advance community health
   • By any community groups or agencies that your team will partner with to execute this proposal, stating their support and commitment to this project while describing their specific role

Please send complete applications electronically to Nessa Regan at nregan1@partners.org by 5:00 pm EST on June 14.

Key Dates and Deadlines

• Proposal released: May 1, 2019
• Applications due: June 14, 2019
• Awards announced: August 1, 2019
• Grants begin: October 1, 2019