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Two mother friends with two daughters crossing the road.

Our efforts to improve health, equity, and social justice rely on evidence and data. We believe deeply in the importance of research, evaluation, and learning with the end goal of building an evidence base made from many disciplines.

Signature Research Programs

Our signature research programs are helping to identify the root causes of health disparities in America and potential solutions to improve health, equity, and well-being.

Visit each RWJF signature program and discover which research opportunity interests you most. 

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Evidence for Action

Evidence for Action (E4A) funds research examining the impact of policies, programs, and partnerships on health, wellbeing, and equity.

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Health Data for Action

Access to rich data is a cornerstone of producing timely and objective research. Health Data for Action (HD4A) links researchers with valuable health data and funding research to help answer important, policy-relevant questions. 

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Health Equity Scholars for Action

Health Equity Scholars for Action (HES4A) offers funding and mentorship to early career researchers from underrepresented backgrounds.

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Policies for Action

Policies for Action (P4A) funds research that identifies policies, laws, and other regulatory tools that can be leveraged to build a Culture of Health. The goal is to generate actionable evidence about how, and how well, laws and policies work to promote population health, wellbeing, and equity.

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Systems for Action

Systems for Action (S4A) funds research to discover and help apply new evidence on ways of aligning financing and service delivery across America's systems of healthcare, public health, and social services.

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Reporting & Assessment

Across our funding interest areas, we support program evaluations that assess the impact of our individual grants and long-term investments, and capture key insights and lessons learned. We also support the evaluation of national and local systems that relate to our grant programs.

Our evaluations, conducted by independent evaluators, are designed to offer insight into both our successes and failures and help us refine our current funding strategies and identify new opportunities moving forward. In addition to informing our grantmaking, our evaluations also are designed to support broader health policy and practice, by contributing to the evidence base about what works when it comes to improving the nation's health. As they are completed, we share our evaluation findings to foster learning that can help advance positive change nationwide.

Another form of evaluation is retrospective reports, which look back over an entire body of work—for example, two decades tackling tobacco addiction as a public health concern. Looking back helps us find better ways forward. 

Evaluations and Assessments
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Evaluations and Assessments

A listing of evaluations of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation programs that assess effectiveness and impact and capture key lessons learned from RWJF's grantmaking.

1-min read

Evaluations and Assessments
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Leadership for Better Health: Evaluation of the RWJF Change Leadership Initiative

The evaluation of the Change Leadership Initiative focuses on cross-initiative learnings based on experiences and outcomes tracked across all four leadership programs.

3-min read

Health Leadership Development
Evaluations and Assessments
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Spreading Community Accelerators through Learning and Evaluation - Program Evaluation

SCALE was the first community-based initiative in IHI’s 100 Million Healthier Lives Campaign to accelerate communities toward a Culture of Health with the goal of having 100 million people living healthier lives by 2020.

3-min read

Health Disparities
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