Ideas for An Equitable Future

Pioneering Ideas

  The equitable future we all deserve won’t simply arrive—we must create it together.

We work with scientists, anthropologists, engineers, artists, and other creative thinkers across the nation to explore and accelerate cutting-edge ideas that could pave the way toward a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.

Together, we can build a future where health is for everyone. 

Funding Opportunity

Exploring Equitable Futures

We seek to provide grants to visionary thinkers—scientists, anthropologists, engineers, technologists, creatives, and others—to uncover new and unconventional ideas that will contribute to our collective efforts to dismantle structural racism and transform health in our lifetime.

Learn more and apply

Related Initiatives

New technologies, scientific discoveries and cultural shifts are redefining our future. We support research and pilot projects that shine a light on how these forces are shaping our future and uncover solutions that can help us tap into these emerging trends. The initiatives featured here are examples of ideas that could help us achieve health equity faster and together.

The pediatric emergency department at the Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, NJ.

Challenge Assumptions

Rather than leading to bad decisions, "crowdsourcing" can actually improve medical decisionmaking.

Visit Network Dynamics Group
Jóvenes SANOS led a healthy restaurant initiative that spurred the approval of an ordinance that requires new restaurants stations to offer and highlight healthy options. Santa Cruz is one of six winners of the inaugural RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize.

Upend the Status Quo

Gig work can be made more equitable with fair pay, stable hours, and safe working conditions.

Visit aspeninstitute.org
Todd County, South Dakota, 2019. Rosebud Reservation. The Lakota Studies Tipi Building located at Sinte Gleska University. Dera Iyotte (right) teaches Tribal History as well as a Lakota Astrolgy class. She has a degree in Cultural Resource Management. Dera goes to the Headstart Program and speaks with parents about natural plants + herbs that can be used in place of pharmaceuticals. Ta'olowan Luta Winstone (center). Marion Fast Horse Morales (left).

Explore Emerging Trends

Could generative AI pomote collaboration, compassion, and other behaviors in online communities?

Visit news.yale.edu
Soho, New York, USA. Walking.

Expand Thinking

Often overlooked as a health issue, noise can trigger stress and heart-related conditions.

Visit communitynoiselab.org
A nurse creating a gadget to improve bedside care. A project of MakerNurse.

Offer New Perspectives

Nurses with a "maker" mindset are improving care at the bedside. 

Visit makernurse.com
J'Shuan Eagins, Forward Promise - Oakland

Ideas from Other Fields

Using Afrofuturism, high school kids are imagining a healthier future where Black and Brown people thrive.

Visit mocha.org

Related Content

 

Two construction workers build a wooden frame.
Research

Work and Health: What Does the Future Hold?

RWJF is exploring how changes in the nature and structure of work may impact the health equity and well-being of people, their families, and their communities.
Social Determinants of Health
James Williams, officer with the San Antonio Police Department Mental Health Unit on a call at a home.
Blog Post

How the Future of Work May Impact Our Wellbeing

The health of workers in a rapidly changing work environment is often overlooked. In a time when incomes, schedules, and healthcare are becoming less predictable.
Healthcare Coverage and Access Ideas for an Equitable Future
A nurse shows off the prototype of the shower sleeve she designed at the first medical maker space.
Blog Post

How the Maker Movement is Innovating Healthcare

Nurses are natural problem solvers. That's why MakerNurse encourages nurses to continue devising their own solutions, then give them the tools to create them.
Healthcare Quality and Value Ideas for an Equitable Future
Future of Evidence
Research

Evidence and Health: What Does the Future Hold?

As we build the evidence base leading to wellbeing and health equity, we must harness the research trends and ideas that are most promising, while being vigilant in mitigating potential harms that could arise from these shifts.
Public and Community Health

Featured Resources

 

Six visionary thinkers take the mic to rethink the way society produces, collects, shares, and uses knowledge about health to advance health equity.

Purple graphic, featuring a light bulb, that reads: Do You Have A Hunch?

Hunches

A hunch is an inkling, a possibility, a sneaking suspicion about the future. We don’t often share our hunches, but when we do, amazing things can happen. Share yours!

Visit shareyourhunch.org
What's Next Health graphic

What’s Next Health

Our publication explores a range of signals, emerging trends, and pioneering ideas that can help us all anticipate and influence a more equitable future.

Visit medium.com
Take Us to a Better Place: Stories book cover

Take Us to a Better Place: Stories

Using the power of fiction, this collection of 10 short stories published by RWJF helps readers imagine possible pathways to a future where health is for everyone.

Read the stories