On behalf of the John A. Hartford Foundation, I am pleased to welcome you to our new blog, Health AGEnda, which is dedicated to introducing aging and geriatrics into the broader conversation around health, health care, and health policy. We here at the Foundation are excited about this new effort for a number of reasons. First, the blog provides an opportunity for all of us to sharpen our ideas and particularly to clarify how we speak to a broader audience beyond our passionate choir in aging. Perhaps even more importantly, it provides a new mechanism for us to listen to others, to engage in a conversation about these ideas with those both experienced and new to issues related to the health and well-being of a rapidly aging population.
Health AGEnda also responds to a desire--expressed by our grantees in a recent survey conducted by the Center for Effective Philanthropy--to speak out more about our issues, adding our voice to the serious debates taking place around health and health care. As an independent foundation, we can express opinions and float ideas that others in academic institutions, clinical associations, or the government simply won't or perhaps can't. That said, and as you can read in our Terms of Use, this is a "moderated" blog, and there is some content, particularly related to lobbying for candidates or particular pieces of legislation, that must be out of bounds for us as a charitable foundation.
Again, we are very much looking forward to offering our ideas and engaging a range of bloggers, readers, and thinkers around the issues that the John A. Hartford Foundation and its committed grantees care about so deeply.