Rural Project Examples Addressing Healthcare needs and services

Updated/reviewed May 2023

Need: There is a lack of interventions that addresses teenager behavioral problems, particularly for rural African American adolescents.
Intervention: Rural, locally trained leaders administered five 2-hour meetings for teenagers and their primary caregivers. Trainings focused on reducing risks that prevent positive development, specifically sexual risk-taking that can lead to HIV and other STIs.
Results: Teens reported reduced conduct problems, depressive symptoms, and substance abuse. Families were strengthened, and SAAF-T reduced unprotected intercourse and increased condom efficacy.

Updated/reviewed February 2023

Need: In 12 rural southeast Georgia counties, high-risk pregnant individuals potentially face adverse birth outcomes, including maternal or infant mortality, low birthweight, very low birthweight, or other medical or developmental problems.
Intervention: An in-home nursing case management program for high-risk pregnant individuals in order to maximize pregnancy outcomes for mothers and their newborns.
Results: Mothers carry their babies longer and the babies are larger when born, leading to improved health outcomes.

Updated/reviewed December 2022

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 November 2021

Need: To reduce overdose-related deaths among prescription opioid users in rural Wilkes County, North Carolina
Intervention: Education and tools are provided for prescribers, patients and community members to lessen drug supply and demand, and to reduce harm in prescription opioid use
Results: Opioid overdose death rates have decreased in Wilkes County

Updated/reviewed November 2020

Need: Provision of medical care access and follow-up for rural North Carolina HIV patients with mental health, substance abuse, and unstable housing/homelessness challenges.
Intervention: Medical home staff model expanded to a care coordination program with a core Network Navigator and Continuum of Care Coordinator assisting with medical, behavioral health, and basic life needs.
Results: To date, the program has advanced three aspects of medical home patient care for this target population: provided further understanding of the spectrum of homelessness, including "hidden" homelessness; implemented outreach with creation of new community partnerships and a community housing coalition; and integrated medical care and behavioral health care for HIV.

Updated/reviewed August 2020

Need: Increase access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in rural Vermont.
Intervention: Statewide hub-and-spoke treatment access system.
Results: Increased treatment capacity and care coordination.

Updated/reviewed May 2020

Need: Meeting the health needs of geriatric patients in rural Livingston County, New York.
Intervention: The Help for Seniors program was developed and using its 'vodcasts,' local EMTs were trained in geriatric screening methods and health needs treatment.
Results: In addition to developing a successful model for educating EMS personnel, the program screened over 1200 individuals and identified various risks among the geriatric population.

Updated/reviewed May 2020

Need: Reduction in the number of emergency department dental patients abusing opioid prescriptions in rural southeastern Maine.
Intervention: Using a one-page opioid prescription guideline, opioid prescribing and emergency room visits for dental pain decreased.
Results: The rate of opioid prescription dropped nearly 20% after implementation, and in comparing the 12-month period before and after implementation, dental pain emergency department visits decreased from 26 to 21 per 1,000.

Updated/reviewed March 2024

Need: In Vermont, the growing population of older adults, coupled with a lack of a decentralized, home-based system of care management, poses significant challenges for those who want to remain living independently at home.
Intervention: SASH® (Support and Services at Home), based in affordable housing and their surrounding communities throughout the state, works with community partners to help older adults and people with disabilities receive the care they need so they can continue living safely at home.
Results: Compared to their non-SASH peers, SASH participants have been documented to have better health outcomes, including fewer falls, lower rates of hospitalizations, fewer emergency room visits, and lower Medicare and Medicaid expenditures.

Updated/reviewed March 2024

Need: To prevent new cases of HIV in rural Iowa.
Intervention: TelePrEP provides preventive care via telehealth and prescription delivery.
Results: Between February 2017 and August 2020, TelePrEP received 456 referrals, with 403 patients completing an initial visit.

Rural Project Examples: Healthcare needs and services