Washington Health Foundation

Healthiest state xchange: as a way to reinvigorate the healthiest state campaign, Washington Health Foundation developed the healthiest state xchange program. This program provides personal Health advocacy, through which users of the program can obtain customized advice and solutions for issues relating to their choice of Health coverage, use of their Health coverage, creation of Health homes, or Health improvement generally. The model generating revenue through broker commissions and fees on licensed Health producers and staff). Funds derived from commissions and fees finance program efforts and also allow for a new Foundation investment into the healthiest state in the nation campaign, using revenues not for profit, but in order to achieve the vision of the healthiest state. While the Foundation is eligible to receive broker commissions and fees, a unique and important feature of the xchange is that it is available to all without regard for availability to pay or eligibility for commission payments. In 2013, the xchange, also known as the personal Health advocate service, continued to grow its reach in preparation for new activities under the affordable care act.

Empowering consumers: making treatment, management and prevention of diabetes people-centered. The Foundation's focus is the creation of opportunities for people living with type 2 diabetes to directly and meaningfully engage in the design process for products and services that impact their Health. This method can be more resource intensive than other human-centered techniques, but results are more transformative and necessarily establish empathic, trusting relationships between contributors, the Foundation, and other community collaborators. In total, whf's portfolio of activities for the empowering consumers project reached more than 12,450 individuals. Activities include: large scale collaboration to create a daily calendar with cartoons illustrating situations, relationships, frustrations and paradoxes of living with diabetes; development and beta testing of a consumer driven ratings and review platform improving access to quality Health and healthcare related products, services and experiences; partnership with three tribal communities to spark construction of community "healing gardens"' sponsorship of a 10-week diabetes focused photovoice projecct; participation in the annual seattle design festival; hosting a 5-day design challenge as part of orientation for the human-computer interaction + design program at the university of Washington.

Navigating transitions: a collection of projects designed to improve the quality of life for elders living with schizophrenia, autism or dementia by enhancing relationships between their care partners. During project work, the Foundation continuosly discovered how people find satisfaction and reward in taking care of each other. By focusing on the relational nature of care sharing, the Washington Health Foundation was able to make the relational webs between companions, families, friends, professional care partners, service organizations, creative engagement specialists and community care providers more visible, tangible and resource rich. Building on these relationships enables development and delivery of tools, counseling serices, and care insights that are personally relevant, practical and meaningful. Our collaborativee efforts include: creation of a care harmony card deck with and for caregivers and their loved ones, developing an alzheimer cafe network of western Washington, sponsorship of and participation in a music + brain Health forum, formation of an arts + dementia care coalition, various conference presentations, and supporting development of early stage memory loss programming.