Rural Project Examples: Healthcare needs and services
Other Project Examples
Nicotine Use Prevention and Control (NUPAC) Program
Updated/reviewed January 2024
- Need: To foster relationships with American Indian people in New Mexico to determine culturally appropriate practices in reducing nicotine addiction.
- Intervention: NUPAC provides outreach, community programs, and cessation services.
- Results: In fiscal year 2023, 1,333 QUIT NOW and DEJELO YA quit line enrollees stopped using tobacco.
Premera Rural Nursing Health Initiative at the University of Washington
Added January 2024
- Need: To create rural clinical placement and postgraduate fellowship opportunities for Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students and recent Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) graduates in Washington.
- Intervention: The Rural Nursing Health Initiative (RNHI), a program out of the University of Washington School of Nursing that created clinical placement opportunities for DNP students and a postgraduate fellowship program for ARNP graduates.
- Results: Rural clinical stipends have been awarded to 80 DNP students, and 12 ARNPs completed rural fellowships between 2021 and 2023.
Rural Aging Action Network
Updated/reviewed January 2024
- Need: To connect underserved and isolated older adults in rural Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota to services and supports so they can age in place.
- Intervention: The Rural Aging Action Network is a collaborative of organizations that offer different services like caregiver support, behavioral health, financial counseling, and assistance with chores and household maintenance.
- Results: Since 2015, the collaborative has reached over 4,000 older adults and caregivers in over 100 rural communities.
The Possibility Shop
Updated/reviewed January 2024
- Need: To connect vulnerable populations in Allegany County, Maryland, to health and human services and to items like hygiene products, food, and clothing.
- Intervention: The Possibility Shop partners with health organizations, insurance navigators, food banks, and other agencies.
- Results: In 2023, 8,684 service encounters occurred and 501 intakes to services were performed.
Arukah Institute's Living Room Program
Added December 2023
- Need: To address high rates of substance use in Princeton, Illinois and the surrounding area.
- Intervention: The Arukah Institute, a local nonprofit organization providing mental health services, adapted a statewide model to provide support and a safe space for people in need of substance use resources.
- Results: The Living Room program had 1,485 visits in its first year, with 100% of clients served by recovery support specialists.
HCC of Lafayette County's Heath Information Technology Workgroup
Updated/reviewed December 2023
- Need: To ensure the quality and sustainability of rural West Central Missouri's health services through the use of technology.
- Intervention: The Health Care Coalition of Lafayette County convened a Health Information Technology (HIT) workgroup to establish electronic medical and prescription records, telemedicine capabilities, and training for Lafayette County and surrounding areas.
- Results: The workgroup fully equipped a local emergency department with HIT, launched electronic prescriptions for nearly a dozen Lafayette County providers, and identified acute needs hindering the adoption of electronic health records.
Rapid HCV Testing as an HIV Testing Strategy in Rural Areas
Updated/reviewed December 2023
- Need: To provide HIV testing in rural areas while navigating around HIV stigma.
- Intervention: A pilot study to provide HCV (Hepatitis C Virus) rapid tests and then offer an HIV rapid test as well.
- Results: An increase in the number of people tested for HCV and HIV.
Riverfront Talks: Substance Matters Podcast
Added December 2023
- Need: To reduce stigma around mental illness and substance use in North Carolina.
- Intervention: The Beaufort County Behavioral Health Task Force created the Riverfront Talks: Substance Matters podcast to interview people with lived experience.
- Results: As of December 2023, the podcast has 10 episodes.
Schoharie County ACEs Team
Updated/reviewed December 2023
- Need: Agencies in Schoharie County, New York were seeing a widespread trend of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in the children and families they served.
- Intervention: The Schoharie ACEs Team was formed as a way to educate rural communities about ACEs, the associated brain science, and ways to build resiliency.
- Results: The ACEs Team has put on 5 half-day educational conferences, 2 virtual conferences, and 10 trainings for various groups across the region. The team has also trained 3 school districts on trauma-informed care and provided resources for families exposed to trauma.
University of Minnesota Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Rural Rotation
Added December 2023
- Need: To address shortages of nurse practitioners and mental health professionals in rural Minnesota.
- Intervention: The University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Nursing implemented a 40-hour rural rotation for students in the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner program.
- Results: 29 students completed rural rotations in communities across the state; several students voiced a new openness to practicing in a rural area after participating in the program.
For examples from other sources, see: