Effective Rural Project Examples - Rural Health Information Hub

I Got You: Healthy Life Choices for Teens (IGU)

Updated/reviewed April 2026

Need: To increase rural east central Mississippi 8th graders' awareness of behavioral and mental health topics.
Intervention: With federal funding support, an intensive mental health outreach program was created for 8th graders and implemented in 2015.
Results: Since 2015, thousands of rural Mississippi students have received education on a variety of behavioral health topics to improve their understanding of mental health issues, high risk behaviors, and skills to best manage their choices. A decade after implementation, the program continues to reach an annual average of 3,000 students.

Updated/reviewed April 2026

Need: To provide psychotherapy to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Intervention: University of Wyoming psychology doctoral students provide psychotherapy via videoconferencing to crisis center clients in two rural locations.
Results: Clients, student therapists, and crisis center staff were satisfied with the quality of services, and clients reported reduced symptoms of depression and PTSD.

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: Improve healthcare access and decrease chronic disease disparities in rural Appalachia.
Intervention: A unique community health worker-based chronic care management program, created with philanthropy support.
Results: After a decade of use in attending to population health needs, health outcomes, healthcare costs, in 2024, the medical condition-agnostic model has a 4-year track record of financial sustainability with recent scaling to include 31 rural counties in a 3-state area of Appalachia and recent implementation in urban areas.

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: To develop sustainable, community-wide prevention methods for cardiovascular diseases in order to change behaviors and healthcare outcomes in rural Maine.
Intervention: Local community groups and Franklin Memorial Hospital staff studied mortality and hospitalization rates for 40 years in this rural, low-income area of Farmington to seek intervention methods that could address cardiovascular diseases.
Results: A decline in cardiovascular-related mortality rates and improved prevention methods for hypertension, high cholesterol, and smoking.

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: To increase access to medical screening for miners in New Mexico.
Intervention: A mobile screening clinic with telemedicine capability screens miners for respiratory and other conditions.
Results: In a survey, 92% of miners reported their care as very good, while the other 8% reported it as good. The program has expanded to three other states.

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: To support parents whose children have been removed from the home so that the parents can make the changes needed for the children to return safely home.
Intervention: A statewide program in Iowa pairs these parents with mentors who have successfully navigated their own child welfare cases.
Results: Participants' children were more likely to return home than non-participants' children, and participants were less likely to have another child removal within a year of the child coming home.

Added February 2026

Need: To increase behaviors that will promote healthy aging in rural Oklahoma.
Intervention: Active Aging for L.I.F.E. offers a college class, lunch and learns, and a high school program that teaches students how their behaviors affect aging.
Results: High school students demonstrated more positive beliefs about growing older, better awareness of the role of physical and brain health, and an increased appreciation for older adults.

Updated/reviewed January 2026

Need: Improve health and wellness outcomes for those affected by trauma and adverse experiences.
Intervention: A language, traditions, and customs-specific evidence-based peer support model that trains local communities on education and prevention strategies to address and heal the effects of trauma.
Results: Peer-reviewed results show decreases in emergency room visits and hospitalizations, over 50% reduction of trauma symptomology, decreases in unhealthy substance use, and improvements in family and spiritual well-being. Model elements have adapted in Canada and several Lower 48 states.

Updated/reviewed January 2026

Need: To meet the health needs of an expanding older adult population in rural Livingston County, New York.
Intervention: In 2006, a federal grant was leveraged to create the Help For Seniors program that focused on EMT training for performing in-field health needs assessments for older adults and the support for a case management staff to address those screening results.
Results: Based on over 1,200 older adult evaluations and the training of nearly 200 EMTs, the project's results and capacity building became a foundation for continued similar county activities that are now supported by state funding.

Updated/reviewed November 2025

Need: To encourage farmers to make health and safety changes on their farms.
Intervention: Farm Dinner Theater is an event in which farmers and their families watch three 10-minute plays covering health and safety topics and then discuss solutions to the issues addressed in each.
Results: In a study, farmers who attended the plays were more likely to make changes and tell others what they learned, compared to farmers who received an educational packet with the same information.