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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Project Examples from FORHP Rural Health Care Services Outreach Grant Program

Effective Examples

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed January 2026

  • Need: Meeting 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 1200 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.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed November 2025

  • Need: A cost-effective approach to help rural patients with hypertension learn to manage their condition.
  • Intervention: Community volunteers trained as health coaches provided an 8-session hypertension management training program to hypertension patients older than 60, with an optional supplemental 8 sessions focused on nutrition and physical activity.
  • Results: Just 16 weeks after the program, participants had improved systolic blood pressure, weight, and fasting glucose, greater knowledge of hypertension, and improved self-reported behaviors.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed September 2025

  • Need: To provide diabetes care and education services to those in rural southeast Georgia.
  • Intervention: Diabetes outreach screening, education, and clinical care services were provided to participants in Toombs, Tattnall, and Montgomery counties. The program is no longer active.
  • Results: Patients successfully learned self-management skills to lower their blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed April 2025

  • 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.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed August 2024

  • Need: Expand healthcare access for the more remote residents of 3 frontier counties in north central Idaho.
  • Intervention: With early federal grant-funding, a consortium of healthcare providers and community agencies used a hybrid Community Health Worker model to augment traditional healthcare delivery services in order to offer a comprehensive set of health-related interventions to frontier area residents.
  • Results: With additional private grant funding, success continued to build into the current model of an established and separate CHW division within the health system's population health department.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed February 2024

  • Need: To improve awareness of behavioral and mental health issues by students in rural, east central Mississippi.
  • Intervention: An intensive community mental health outreach program was implemented for students in rural Mississippi.
  • Results: As of 2018 and on a yearly basis, 6,000 7th and 8th grade students receive mental health education on a variety of topics which improves their ability to recognize mental health issues, high risk behaviors, and manage their own choices.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed November 2018

  • Need: To reduce obesity among adults in rural east central Ohio.
  • Intervention: Fit for Life Replication Project for Expansion was developed to make it possible to lose weight through practicing healthier lifestyle behaviors.
  • Results: Out of the 443 adults who have completed the program, 81% experienced weight loss, a tangible result of the program's overarching goal to enhance levels of health and fitness.

Promising Examples

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed January 2026

  • Need: Improve the oral health of children age 3-17 in rural areas of Louisiana.
  • Intervention: Leveraging 2012-2018 federal grant support, participating Federally Qualified Health Centers with school-based nurse practitioners were trained in oral health assessments and fluoride varnish application. When needed, dental referrals were also made. Interventions were tracked by dental case managers.
  • Results: After grant cycle completion, these oral health interventions are now fully integrated into routine school-based care health examinations with intervention data included in required annual reporting.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed December 2025

  • Need: To properly address and treat patients who have concurrent substance use disorders and chronic healthcare issues.
  • Intervention: A referral system utilizes community health workers (CHWs) in a drug and alcohol treatment setting. A registered nurse helps with providers' medication-assisted treatment programs.
  • Results: This program has reduced hospital emergency visits and hospital readmissions for patients since its inception.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed November 2025

  • Need: Allow rural cancer patients in a region inclusive of 26 counties in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota to have access to tertiary-level chemotherapy regimens administered in rural infusion centers.
  • Intervention: With telehealth-based oversight from a tertiary care oncology team, 3 rural infusion teams were trained to coordinate cancer treatment plans and administer complex chemotherapy regimens.
  • Results: The original grant-supported effort — with its results of saving130 patients 65,000 trip miles and 1,800 travel hours – proved sustainable.