Talk:Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

NPOV?

This article isn't NPOV at all. I mean, the "History" section especially reads like an introduction speech at an awards ceremony. Shouldn't this be cleaned up to make it a little more neutral? I mean, come on:

"He was a disciplined perfectionist who sometimes had to restrain himself from acts of reckless generosity." / "Robert Wood Johnson's sense of personal responsibility toward society was expressed imperishably in the disposition of his own immense fortune."

How about a criticisms section? RWJF has received a fair deal of criticism for a sort health-fascist like mentality, and in their attempts to manipulate public policy, which some feel serve ulterior motives. 99.246.61.51 (talk) 21:28, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

I disagree and think the information is unbiased and innocuous. If you search for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Google News, you will see how the organization has been covered in the media and health trade publications. Most of the references are pulled directly from the news. I have been searching online and have not come across any negative references or criticisms of the foundation that are accurate. Contrary to what some parties are saying, the research I have found shows that the Foundation is not connected to Johnson & Johnson, in fact, the company participates in its own corporate philanthropy, as indicated on the J&J Web site. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chheath (talk • contribs) 14:40, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

DISCUS

A link in the article to DISCUS goes to an unrelated stub in computer science. So what is DISCUS? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ann Weaver Hart (talk • contribs) 17:05, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Distilled Spirits Council of the United States(Partner or Foe)WurmWoode^T 16:26, 24 June 2015 (UTC)

Criticism section edits

January 2009 edits made by an IP (see initial edit made here:[1], which were quickly reverted by me [2], then restored/revised by User:Ajax151 with an edit summary of "Criticism section restored, minus the references from David J. Hanson. Section needed to balance the article."[3]). Despite the changes, the restored section is still POV information sourced to pages on the American Beverage Institute and Center for Consumer Freedom, neither of which remotely meet WP:RS. I had removed the section because the information (and tone) needed to be sourced to news articles from reliable sources, not websites from the org's opponents and public relations companies. The section should be removed until legitimate sourcing is found. Flowanda | Talk 21:57, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

My comments and request are only related to the issues in this one section, not other issues flagged on the main page concerning the article as a whole. Flowanda | Talk 23:20, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

I'm not a Wiki expert, so I can't make changes, but the last sentence in the "Criticism" section is without any citation, and uses weasel words. It should be either called out or corrected, in my opinion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.186.80.1 (talk) 15:26, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Help reflecting new leadership at Foundation

Hi there! Full disclosure: I work at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I am interested in seeing this page uphold wiki's norms and values and want to be in compliance with requesting a few edits to the facts about our leader and his vision for our work.

1. Dr Richard E. Besser was named Chief Executive Officer/CEO of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2017. While I was able to make an edit to the leadership section, but I'm not sure how to update the information box. Here's what I've done:

I've added the CEO in wikidata to support this. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3075569 And here is the press release on our website. https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2017/02/richard-besser-md-named-new-president-C-E-O-of-robert-wood-johnson-foundation.html And a third party reporting on this. https://deadline.com/2017/02/richard-besser-leaving-abc-news-chief-health-medical-editor-1201910415/

2. RWJF's vision is slightly evolving under new leadership. I have NOT made any change to this entry as I wanted the communitiy's input/help in making this second adjustment.

The foundation's goal, through the use of grants, is "to ensure that everyone in America has a fair and just opportunity to live as healthy as possible."

Here is the specific reference on our website. https://www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwjf/our-guiding-principles.html

Thanks for your help. ~emk — Preceding unsigned comment added by Erimkelly (talk • contribs) 12:19, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

Hi Erimkelly. You might want to take a look at Wikipedia:Edit requests and re-formulate your request using Template:Request edit. There are probably not many editors watching this article, which means it might take some time before someone notices your post. Using the "Request edit" template will add this page to a maintenance category where editors who try to help out COI editors often look for unanswered requests, and thus may speed things up a bit. I'm also going to add a COI welcome template to your user talk page for your general reference. -- Marchjuly (talk) 00:25, 9 August 2018 (UTC)

Asking for help with improvements

Hi everyone! Let me introduce myself, I'm Erin and I work for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I joined Wikipedia a while ago to suggest some changes and found out I had a lot to learn. I've been reading up on the conflict of interest guidelines, and to follow them I'll suggest edits here, rather than directly edit the article. I understand that editors can make changes to content I suggest and welcome feedback and discussion about my proposed edits.

• First, the Leadership section is missing David Rogers and Leighton Cluff, and needs a citation for Steven Schroeder. I've prepared an updated version below with some additional context on our leaders.
• The foundation has an extensive history that would be relevant to the article. I know it's important to keep requests short, so for now I've made a suggestion below to update the current History section for accuracy and to provide more context on our origin.

History

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was initially established as the Johnson-New Brunswick Foundation in December 1936, and focused on charitable efforts in New Brunswick and Middlesex County, New Jersey. The original board of trustees included Robert Wood Johnson II, John Seward Johnson II, and others. It was renamed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 1952. Robert Wood Johnson II left a bequest of 10,204,377 shares of Johnson & Johnson stock to the foundation upon his death in 1968. The foundation became a national philanthropy in 1972. The value of the stock was more than US$1 billion, making it the second largest private foundation at the time.

Leadership

The foundation's first president was David E. Rogers, who served from 1972 until 1987. Leighton E. Cluff served as the foundation's president from 1986 until February 1990, when he was succeeded by Steven A. Schroeder. The foundation's board of trustees selected Schroeder to lead the foundation, knowing he wanted to take it "in the direction of working on substance abuse problems".

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey was the first woman and African American to be the foundation's chief executive officer, a role she held between 2002 and 2017. She was succeeded by Richard E. Besser, who was named president and CEO in April 2017. Besser previously worked as the medical editor for ABC News and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control.

References

I prepared a full draft of content I plan to propose for the article, but for simplicity will work in smaller chunks. If anyone is interested, you can find it here. I look forward to this collaborative process to help improve this article! A great big thanks, Erimkelly (talk) 18:05, 1 December 2021 (UTC)

 Done. Heartmusic678 (talk) 15:53, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

@Heartmusic678: Thank you for your help with these changes! Erimkelly (talk) 18:44, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

Early history addition

Hi again everyone! I'd like to make another suggestion on behalf of my employer, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As a reminder, I'm not making any direct edits because of my COI.

Now that the origin of the foundation has been updated, I propose adding a subsection on our earliest efforts. For ease of review, I'll work through these additions in smaller subsections grouped based on leadership and other major changes to the organization, starting with 1972-1985. My proposed content below:

1972–1985

Initially, the foundation worked on improving access to health care, with a focus on impoverished and minority groups, infant and elder care, and mental health. It created a $15 million grant program to contribute to the development of emergency services systems in the United States. Then-president David E. Rogers established a partnership with the National Academy of Sciences to increase oversight of how the funds were used and assess project outcomes. Ultimately, the funds were distributed to 44 grantees in amounts ranging from $350,000 to $400,000. The primary aspects of emergency medical services the program funded included: technology access, such as equipping ambulances with radios; training for ambulance drivers and dispatchers; interagency coordination through a national centralized, regional-based system; and development of the 911 emergency system. In 1973, 11 percent of areas covered by the foundation's program had access to a centralized emergency services system. By 1977, when the program ended, coverage had increased to 95 percent.

In 1985, the foundation partnered with The Pew Charitable Trusts to launch a new program to improve access to health care for the American homeless population. The organizations committed $25 million over five years to 19 pilot programs as part of their Health Care for the Homeless initiative. Approaches to the issue varied by city. For example, a Philadelphia program connected hospitals with homeless shelters, so individuals experiencing homelessness had access to inpatient and outpatient care. Another program in New York City focused on providing care in soup kitchens. Congress copied the foundation's program for providing health care through shelters when passing the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

Other early efforts of the foundation included: support for the Nurse-Family Partnership, which partners at-risk pregnant women with nurses; establishing the Minority Medical Faculty Development Program, renamed the Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program in 2004; and supporting development of the "swing bed" concept in rural hospitals, which allows patients to transition from acute care to skilled-nursing without having to transfer to a nursing home.

References

If you'd like to take a look at my full draft, it's available here. Any thoughts or questions are appreciated. Heartmusic678, if you're interested in reviewing another of my requests, I welcome your input. A great big thanks! Erimkelly (talk) 18:44, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

@Erimkelly: Sure, I'll start this tomorrow. Heartmusic678 (talk) 19:07, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

@Erimkelly:  Done with this part of the request. I don't mind continuing to add the rest of the draft; it looks fine. If you want to create one large edit request for what's left, that's fine with me. I will work on it a chunk at a time. Heartmusic678 (talk) 12:15, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

@Heartmusic678: Wow! Thank you so much for your kind offer. I've posted the rest below. Erimkelly (talk) 14:16, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

Remaining draft sections

Hi again! Per Heartmusic678's offer, I'm posting the remaining sections of my draft article below for their review. I've left placeholders in for the sections we've already completed to show overall structure.

Extended content

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Abbreviation RWJF Founded 1936 Founder Robert Wood Johnson II Purpose Improving the health and well-being of all in America Location Princeton, New Jersey Area served National Method Grantmaking and social change CEO Richard Besser Key people Julie Morita Disbursements ~$500 million annually Endowment $13 billion (2020) Employees 270 Website www.rwjf.org Introduction The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is the largest American philanthropic organization focused solely on health. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, the foundation focuses on access to health care, public health, health equity, leadership and training, and changing systems to address barriers to health care access. RWJF has been credited with helping to develop the 911 emergency system, reducing tobacco use among Americans, lowering rates of unwanted teenage pregnancies, and improving perceptions of hospice care. Overview Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supports the development of programs which can be used in community-led initiatives, or by government bodies when developing policies and social programs; funds research through surveys and polls; and makes impact investments. According to Pensions & Investments and Foundation Center, the foundation was the fifth largest in the U.S. in investment assets, as of 2015. As of 2020, the value of its endowment was $13 billion. History Done 1972–1985 Done 1986–2001 In 1986, the foundation turned its attention toward funding programs to provide treatment for HIV/AIDS, while the disease's association with homosexuality still held back many organizations from getting involved. It launched the AIDS Health Services Program in 11 communities around the U.S., which aimed to integrate a network of human services agencies for case management and favored community-care models for patients. By May 1989, the foundation had given $50 million to care services and prevention campaigns. The Ryan White CARE Act was partially modeled on RWJF's program. After Dr. Steven A. Schroeder became the foundation's president in 1990, he made substance abuse a major focus of the foundation’s work. Between 1991 and 2003, the foundation spent approximately $408 million on a variety of tobacco-related programs, including awareness campaigns on the negative effects of tobacco use and smoking cessation campaigns. To that end, the foundation launched Smokeless States in 1993, a program designed to help local groups be educated about tobacco effects and the options to regulate tobacco usage. By 2007, 31 states and the District of Columbia had entered the Smokeless States program. The foundation's Center for Tobacco-Free Kids was asked to participate as a "disinterested and trustworthy party" in state litigation leading up to the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998. Apart from substance abuse, the foundation also funded studies on palliative and chronic care. In 1989, the organization funded a five-year, $28 million study on end-of-life care, publishing the results in 1995. The Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatment found that most Americans die alone in hospitals while receiving high-cost care and treatment, often against the patient's desires. The study led to the formation of several groups by the foundation, including Last Acts, a group of 900 entities that have drafted best practices for palliative care. Between 1989 and 2007, the foundation gave more than $148 million for research related to palliative care. By 2007, more than 500 hospitals throughout the U.S. had palliative care programs, most of which were created after the foundation and George Soros's Open Society Institute began research and advocacy efforts. During this period, the foundation also contributed to efforts to enroll more uninsured U.S. children in medicare. A study published in Health Affairs noted that RWJF spent $55 million on its Covering Kids campaign, which lasted from 1997 until 2002. The study found that the overall rate of uninsured children in the U.S. decreased during the campaign.  Done with edits for language, flow and duplicate information removal. (The headquarters and Pensions & Investments fact were mentioned twice). The information on discrimination is mentioned in the lead and in the history but without sourcing to support the additional details. Also, the reference named "Foundation Center" has a retired URL page, so the source was not included in the updates). Thanks, Heartmusic678 (talk) 16:01, 9 December 2021 (UTC) 2002–2017 In the early 2000s, under the leadership of Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, the foundation prioritized childhood obesity, including a pledge of $1 billion for research and advocacy to raise awareness on the topic. Grants from this pledge, the first $500 million of which came in 2007, have been used to fund projects in cities throughout the United States. As early as 2003, the foundation was working in Louisville, Kentucky, providing more than $740,000 in grants between 2003 and 2011 to make infrastructure updates that encourage physical activity, such as widening sidewalks and adding the city's first bicycle lane. The foundation also continued to work on eldercare topics and provided funding for the Green House Project, a study to remake nursing homes into something that was less institutional and allowed residents more autonomy. While nursing homes tended to be regimented, the Green House model allows residents to set their own schedules, and houses fewer people in more units designed like a single family home. In 2011, the foundation established a $100 million impact capital fund to develop the Green House model. By 2014, 27 states had adopted versions of the Green House Project. A 2017 study on Green House nursing homes funded by the foundation found that while imperfect, the model had better outcomes for residents, including fewer hospitalizations and a lower occurrence of conditions like pressure ulcers. The foundation established the Commission to Build a Healthier America in 2008. The non-partisan group included individuals from business, academia, and politics and focused on studying ways to improve health in the U.S. outside of the health care system. The commission compiled five-years worth of research into a report it released in 2014. The report focused on social determinants of health and detailed three strategies to improve health in the U.S.: early-childhood education; community-based health initiatives; and focusing on preventative care instead of treatment. In 2010 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation partnered with the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute to launch the County Health Ranking program, which calculates and compares the health of each county, nationwide. The counties are measured and ranked on various health and social factors, which include more than 30 indicators such as obesity, tobacco use, mental health, employment and poverty rates, and access to healthy food. Over time, the foundation added coaches and competitions to the program in order to support communities' efforts to improve local health. This was in response to growing evidence showing social factors and individuals actions could affect a population's health more than quality of medical treatment. The foundation also partnered with Federal Reserve Banks to engage impact investors, banks, and community developers in health and wellness based projects through the Healthy Communities Initiative. The foundation announced a major shift in 2014 to how it would approach health issues. While it had focused on specific health issues, its focus would instead be on changes that could lead to large scale social shifts by building what it called a "culture of health". The change built on the Culture of Health Action Framework adopted by the foundation in 2013. Critics of the shift expressed concern that funding for some areas, such as leadership training for doctors, and programs for nursing and health policy, was being discontinued as part of the shift. When describing the changes at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Lavizzo-Mourey said, "We have to make a seismic shift in the way we deal with health, and it has to come from the ground up". 2018–present Under Richard Besser's leadership, the foundation prioritized health equity and removing barriers to health resulting from discrimination. In an address given at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, Besser pointed to where people live, recreate, and work as well as access to healthy food and livable wages, and removal of cultural barriers as important factors in individual health. The foundation funded a 2021 analysis by the Urban Institute which found black patients experience "dangerous bleeding, infections and other serious problems related to surgical procedures" more frequently than white patients who receive care in the same hospital. In 2019, the foundation worked with the Global Reporting Initiative and others to develop the Culture of Health for Business Framework. The framework provides 16 best practices for companies to measure health policies and practices against, ranging from environmental to social and governance issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the foundation partnered with organizations such as NPR to research financial, education, and health impacts of the pandemic. The foundation also has ongoing surveys with the Rand Corporation, one of which found that many Americans agree that minority communities have been more affected by the pandemic, but do not believe structural racism is a barrier to health. During this period, RWJF partnered with the Ford Foundation to establish the Presidents' Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy. The group includes 17 grant making organizations. The council's focus is on improving inclusion of disability issues in philanthropy. The Foundation also funded the Childhood Opportunity Index, which ranks neighborhoods across the U.S. on access to childhood development resources that can affect health and life expectancy, and income later in life. The index was initially published in 2014, and an updated version was released in January 2020. Leadership Done References

I removed the Grantmaking areas section from my draft since it's mostly unsourced, and that changes regularly. If editors agree, I think it should be cut since the history section provides a thorough overview of grantmaking areas. I'm happy to answer questions, or make changes as needed. A great big thanks! Erimkelly (talk) 14:16, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

 Done. Heartmusic678 (talk) 12:29, 10 December 2021 (UTC)

@Heartmusic678: Thank you! Thank you! This looks great. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your work here! I may follow-up if I have any further suggestions or questions. Again, a great big thanks! Erimkelly (talk) 15:23, 13 December 2021 (UTC)

@Erimkelly: Okay and you're welcome :D. Heartmusic678 (talk) 16:38, 13 December 2021 (UTC)

Logo update and possible additions

Hello everyone! This is Erin from RWJF with some follow-up requests. As a reminder, I don't edit the article myself because I have a COI.

1. I found this updated and higher quality logo on Wikimedia Commons, would it be possible to replace the current logo in the infobox?
2. There were a few things I left out of the article rewrite I worked on because I wasn't sure if they met the criteria for inclusion. Would editors mind taking a look at these and letting me know if any can be added? If so, I can draft up language for review:

• The foundation's support for development of the Chronic Care Model
• Our work with Boston University on a COVID-19 database
• Research on health effects of racism with David Williams
• RWJF's teleconferences on COVID-19 and discrimination against Asian and Pacific Islander Americans and on COVID-19 exacerbating racial health disparities
• Lastly, the article mentions some of our poll work with NPR and Harvard, would it be reasonable to add a more specific mention of them and their use across mainstream media?

@Heartmusic678: Since you are familiar with the article, I was wondering if you'd be willing to take a look at these requests.

A great big thanks for all the support with improving the article and helping me understand Wikipedia better! Erimkelly (talk) 15:47, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Hi @Erimkelly: The logo has been updated. I looked through the pages of some of the foundations listed here, and to answer your question about including additional content, anything that relates to the history, leadership/governance, activities/initiatives/programs, funding, awards or criticisms of the Foundation would be okay to add. Heartmusic678 (talk) 12:00, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

@Heartmusic678: Thanks for updating the logo and the content advice. Based on what you said, I have a few additions to suggest.

• In 1986 - 2001: replace "Apart from substance abuse, the foundation also funded studies on palliative and chronic care." with "Apart from substance abuse, the foundation also funded studies on palliative care and worked with researchers to develop the chronic care model."
• Add to 2002 - 2017: A 2017 survey conducted by RWJF, NPR, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that people in America report that their personal experience with discrimination regularly affects their lives and drives decisions that influence their health, safety, and well-being. Experiences with discrimination correlated to an increased risk for health conditions such as coronary heart disease. In 2018, the foundation co-funded a study along with the National Institutes of Health that found police killings of unarmed black Americans led to adverse mental health affects among black American respondents. Other public opinion polls RWJF worked on with NPR and Harvard University have covered issues such as the burden of stress in America (2014), education and health in schools (2013), trust in public health (2021), income inequality (2020), and experiences during the pandemic (2021).
• Add to 2018 - present: The foundation's other activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic included collaborating with Boston University to develop a database of state policies enacted in response to the pandemic, and hosting teleconferences and virtual discussions on how the pandemic unveiled the impact that systemic racism and other forms of discrimination have on health in America.

References

Thanks again, your help has been amazing. Erimkelly (talk) 13:59, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

Hi @Erimkelly: I am happy to help. The updates have been made. Heartmusic678 (talk) 15:30, 26 January 2022 (UTC)

The changes look good, thank you Heartmusic678! Erimkelly (talk) 21:29, 27 January 2022 (UTC)

@Erimkelly: Any time :D. Heartmusic678 (talk) 21:59, 27 January 2022 (UTC)