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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Project Examples: Populations

Other Project Examples

Updated/reviewed August 2025

  • Need: To provide healthcare for children and adults at-risk for genetic conditions from the rural, uninsured Amish and Mennonite communities in southern Pennsylvania.
  • Intervention: A clinic that serves as a comprehensive medical practice for children and adults (primarily from the Amish and Mennonite communities) with rare, inherited, or complex disorders.
  • Results: In 2024, about 1,700 active patients with more than 480 unique genetic mutations were treated at the Clinic for Special Children.

Updated/reviewed July 2025

  • Need: To help older adults age in place.
  • Intervention: For four to five months, CAPABLE participants receive home visits from a registered nurse, occupational therapist, and home repair services.
  • Results: There are currently 38 CAPABLE sites across the country, 19 of which are located in rural communities.

Updated/reviewed July 2025

  • Need: To bring needed child care to rural Mercer County, North Dakota.
  • Intervention: A nonprofit cooperative provides part-time and full-time child care.
  • Results: ECCCC currently has about 75 children enrolled, but it had 86 children at the height of its enrollment history.

Updated/reviewed July 2025

  • Need: To develop a child and family well-being system that provides rural Texas communities with flexibility, authority, and adaptability to improve services and outcomes for children and families.
  • Intervention: SJRC Texas's division Belong is the lead provider for Community-Based Care (CBC) for Region 8, which encompasses 28 counties. Services include foster and kinship care, case management, and reunification services for those involved in the foster care system.
  • Results: Since October 2021, SJRC Texas | Belong CBC has served more than 2,150 children and young adults, and 834 youth have achieved permanency through family reunification or kinship care.

Updated/reviewed July 2025

  • Need: Suicide among veterans has been steadily increasing, and rural veterans have an increased risk of death by suicide compared to urban veterans.
  • Intervention: A program called Together with Veterans was formed to help rural communities address and prevent suicides among veterans. The initiative is veteran-led, collaborative, evidence-based, and community-centered.
  • Results: Data collection is ongoing.

Updated/reviewed June 2025

  • Need: To reduce youth suicide rates.
  • Intervention: First begun in Utah, Hope Squad is a nationwide program that trains youth to identify peers' signs of distress and connect them to help. Hope Squads educate the entire student body to increase connectedness and reduce stigma.
  • Results: Studies suggest that Hope Squad schools' students with suicidal thoughts are more likely than non-Hope Squad schools' students to solicit help. In addition, stigma surrounding mental illness is decreasing.

Updated/reviewed June 2025

  • Need: Teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and mental health challenges in adolescent girls were concerns for members of Union Parish, Louisiana.
  • Intervention: Union General Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital, created the program It's a Girl Thing: Making Proud Choices to teach prevention, self-confidence, personal responsibility, and mental well-being to teen girls.
  • Results: Teen pregnancy rates in Union Parish have dropped by more than 40% since the start of the program, significantly exceeding the program's initial goal of 5%. Graduation rates have also increased. The addition of Together We Can Be Bully Free as an integral part of It's a Girl Thing has further expanded mental health support for participants.

Updated/reviewed June 2025

  • Need: Transportation to medical appointments for children and expectant mothers living in rural Alabama.
  • Intervention: Kid One Transport provides rides to medical appointments for clients who otherwise have no other means of transportation.
  • Results: The program has transported 477,880 children and expectant mothers to and from medical appointments. Children have recovered from life-threatening illnesses and are experiencing a higher quality of life.
funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed June 2025

  • Need: To improve maternal and birth outcomes in rural and underserved areas by increasing the number of family medicine physicians in these areas who have high-quality, evidence-based obstetrical care skills.
  • Intervention: The STRETCH-OB program trains a select number of family medicine residents at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford each year to provide high-quality maternity care, including surgical obstetrical care.
  • Results: Four STRETCH-OB residents have graduated as of June 2025 and all have cesarean section privileges in their practice.

Updated/reviewed June 2025

  • Need: To create a safe space for youth and young adults, ages 14 to 25, in rural eastern Kentucky.
  • Intervention: The Sapling Center provides independent living skills education and offers a wide array of services as well as fun activities in a supportive environment.
  • Results: The 5 Sapling Center locations serve 50-75 teens and young adults every day.

For examples from other sources, see: