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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Project Examples: Population health

Other Project Examples

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.

HealthStreet Cognitive Screening Project

Updated/reviewed November 2023

  • Need: Because of the benefits associated with early identification of conditions causing memory problems, Florida's rural populations will benefit from access to screening for possible Alzheimer's Disease and other types of dementia.
  • Intervention: A state university uses a state health department grant to develop a cognitive impairment screening program implemented by rural Community Health Workers. An additional grant provides rural medical practitioners with a free online continuing education module covering cognitive impairment and dementia.
  • Results: To date, over 400 individuals have completed health screenings and over 900 referrals have been made to community social and medical services. At grant cycle completion, formal analysis of cognitive screening and referral to medical services will be shared.

Healthy Southern Illinois Delta Network

Updated/reviewed November 2023

  • Need: To improve people's health in a rural 16-county region in Illinois.
  • Intervention: A coalition of local health departments and healthcare facilities coordinates regional efforts, which are implemented locally by health community coalitions.
  • Results: HSIDN has created toolkits, developed resource guides, and provided wellness trainings, among other initiatives.

Old Dominion University's Student-Run Mobile Health Clinic

funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Added November 2023

  • Need: To fill gaps in care for rural communities in southeastern Virginia while providing clinical placement opportunities for nursing students.
  • Intervention: A free mobile health clinic staffed by Old Dominion University nursing students that visits rural schools and other community centers.
  • Results: Hundreds of students have gained hands-on rural experience working in the clinic since its launch.

Wisconsin Rural Women's Initiative

Updated/reviewed November 2023

  • Need: To provide personal development programs to ease isolation and provide resources for farm and rural women of Wisconsin.
  • Intervention: Wisconsin Rural Women's Initiative (WRWI) develops self-sustaining women's circles that work to maintain social connections and develop healthy practices in order to break down the isolating effects of rural living.
  • Results: WRWI has worked with rural and farm women in 67 counties, providing services that encourage and build self-esteem, teach skills for coping with change, and create an ongoing support system.

Cavity Free at Three

funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed October 2023

  • Need: In Colorado, 31% of children have experienced dental decay by the time they reach kindergarten. With several frontier and rural counties in Colorado considered Dental Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), options for oral healthcare are limited.
  • Intervention: Cavity Free at Three (CF3) works to improve access to preventive oral health for pregnant women and young children.
  • Results: CF3 has trained over 6,000 medical and dental professionals in performing preventive dental health. The percentage of children who received oral healthcare from a medical or dental provider before the age of 2 has progressively increased, and Colorado saw reduced cavities starting in 2007.

High Rockies Harm Reduction

Added October 2023

  • Need: To reduce drug overdose deaths and the spread of infectious diseases in rural Colorado.
  • Intervention: This program provides harm reduction and peer support to people who use drugs and to their loved ones.
  • Results: This program distributed 3,125 doses of naloxone and 4,760 fentanyl test strips in 2022.

One Health Recovery Doulas

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Added October 2023

  • Need: To support pregnant and parenting women with a history of substance use, mental health, or co-occurring disorders in rural areas of Montana.
  • Intervention: One Health, a consortium of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), developed a team of "recovery doulas" – individuals who are dual-certified as doulas and peer-support specialists. The One Health recovery doula program offers group and individual services to women and their partners from pregnancy through the first years of parenthood.
  • Results: A team of nine recovery doulas (or doulas-in-training) employed by One Health offer services in ten rural Montana counties. Recovery doulas have provided essential support to women with substance use disorder, survivors of sexual abuse, unhoused individuals, and individuals facing other complex challenges.

Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH)

Added October 2023

  • Need: To reduce injuries in agricultural communities and improve emergency responders' preparedness when called to farms and ranches.
  • Intervention: RF-DASH equips rural fire/EMS personnel and others with agricultural health and safety knowledge and tools to pre-plan for agricultural emergencies as well as assess and then mitigate agricultural hazards.
  • Results: Over 80 firefighters and EMTs have received training to become RF-DASH trainers.

Healthy Monadnock Alliance

Updated/reviewed September 2023

  • Need: Improved health outcomes for Monadnock Region, a rural area of New Hampshire.
  • Intervention: A wide-scale effort across multiple sectors is aiming to improve health outcomes throughout the region.
  • Results: Community health trends have been tracked over time, and progress on goals such as increasing the number of residents with healthcare coverage, opportunities for physical activity, access to healthy foods, and smoking cessation has been made.