Blogs and Articles

Addressing Veteran’s Needs through Holistic Care

Veteran-serving organizations address various needs, including healthcare, mental health care, housing and homeless assistance, and financial and employment assistance. Many needs are co-occurring. For instance, if a veteran wishes to get a job, they might require additional needs in transportation, education, or financial literacy guidance. The influence of social determinants of health—such as violence, housing instability, financial/employment problems, lack of access to transportation, and psychosocial needs—on veterans’ lives is significant.

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Addressing Veterans’ Needs through Sequencing Care

Veterans transitioning to civilian life encounter a complex web of challenges, and the fragmented system of care often leaves them underserved and overwhelmed in the process of attempting to receive support. New research from NNSI finds that a holistic approach to addressing veterans’ needs is imperative. But most veteran serving organizations operate in silos, without the needed coordination to address everyday co-occurring needs.  A new report from the Network for

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Two people filling out a form on a clipboard. The person holding the clipboard is a doctor.

U.S. Potential Path to Addressing Health-Related Social Needs: Drawing Lessons from State Innovations

Today, 40% of Americans face significant material hardship, which includes limited access to vital resources such as nutritious food, medical care, affordable housing, and essential utilities. Yet, the support provided by social service agencies and nonprofit organizations reaches less than 16% of those struggling with material hardship, leaving the majority to manage on their own. What happens when someone cannot pay rent or has a disconnected phone? These unmet health-related

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How Can States Build Better Relationships between Health Care Organizations and Community Based Organizations?

Healthcare providers, organizations, and payers recognize the connection between social needs and health outcomes. These social needs are often described as the social determinants of health (SDOH). SDOHs are the environmental and social factors that influence health outcomes. Research indicates that improving social conditions— such as adequate food, secure housing and income, access to healthcare, and dependable transportation — is crucial to addressing health inequalities and outcomes. With the increasing

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Real-World Wicked Problems

Wicked problems are much like board games. Board games can look wildly different, but their inherent underlying premise–the nature of what it means to be a ‘board game’–stays largely the same. Wicked problems are classified by their multi-dimensionality, complexity, and inherent lack of solution. Like board games, wicked problems come in all shapes and sizes, but the inherent complexity of their nature–the nature of what it means to be a

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It Matters How You Do It: NNSI’s High-Impact Networks Campaign

Today’s nonprofit landscape is full of social impact networks– but not all of them are effective. Even if a network is making a difference in their community, there is always room for growth. In a landscape saturated with networks addressing a plethora of wicked problems, communities want to see impacts that are beneficial and substantive. When a network engages in high-impact practices, their operations thrive. High-impact networks have strong theories

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