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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community and faith-based initiatives

Community Participation for Rural Health: A Review of Challenges
Critical review of international literature, intended to stimulate debate, present ideas, and provide a representation of rural community participation at the grass-roots level.
Author(s): Amanda Kenny, Jane Farmer, Virginia Dickson-Swift, Nerida Hyett
Citation: Health Expectations, 18(6), 1906-1917
Date: 12/2014
Type: Document
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Buncombe County, NC: 2014 Culture of Health Prize Winner
Describes how Buncombe County Health and Human Services of North Carolina collaborated with community stakeholders including the local chamber of commerce, YMCA, healthcare professionals, and transportation experts to create a Public Health Advisory Council. The Council along with individuals, families, and local leaders supported healthy living initiatives by encouraging physicians to address obesity and asthma, reducing exposure to secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing, encouraging the purchase of healthy foods, and improving healthcare quality for children with special needs. Buncombe County is a recipient of the 2014 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health Prize.
Date: 06/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Building Partnerships with Rural Arkansas Faith Communities to Promote Veterans' Mental Health: Lessons Learned
Highlights a study of 3 mental health-clergy partnership programs in rural Arkansas. Breaks down demographic information of program locations and presents a qualitative assessment of each program.
Author(s): Greer Sullivan, Justin Hunt, Tiffany F. Haynes, et al.
Citation: Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 8(1), 11-19
Date: 2014
Type: Document
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A Rural African American Faith Community's Solutions to Depression Disparities
Discusses how a rural African American community of faith in the Arkansas Delta could deal with depression within their community as well as in their congregation.
Author(s): Keneshia Bryant, Tiffany Haynes, Karen Hye-cheon Kim Yeary, Nancy Greer-Williams, Mary Hartwig
Citation: Public Health Nursing, 31(3), 262-271
Date: 2014
Type: Document
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A Church-Based Diet and Physical Activity Intervention for Rural, Lower Mississippi Delta African American Adults: Delta Body and Soul Effectiveness Study, 2010–2011
Study of 6-month-long interventions in 8 self-selected churches in 4 counties. Features statistics including sex, weight group, smoking status, employment, types of chronic disease and medication use, and levels of physical activity.
Author(s): Lisa Tussing-Humphreys, Jessica L. Thomson, Tanyatta Mayo, Emanuel Edmond
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 10
Date: 06/2013
Type: Document
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Hearts and Hands: Piecing Together Faith and Safety for Rural Victims of Sexual and Domestic Violence
Toolkit created to support partnerships between faith leaders and domestic violence victim services providers in rural communities. Includes information on how to understand the faith community's role in supporting domestic violence victims, challenges and lessons learned, and examples of model programs in rural New York, Massachusetts, and South Dakota.
Date: 2013
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Safe Havens Interfaith Partnership Against Domestic Violence
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VISN 16: Developing a VA/Clergy Partnership to Increase Access to Mental Health Services Among Rural Veterans
Describes a partnership project designed to improve access to mental healthcare for rural veterans in Jefferson County, Pope County, Union County, and White County, Arkansas.
Author(s): Steve Sullivan, Greer Sullivan
Date: 2012
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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Feasibility of an Evidence-Based Weight Loss Intervention for a Faith-Based, Rural, African American Population
Discusses a culturally appropriate program created by a coalition of academic and community partners and geared toward adults in three African American churches in the Arkansas Lower Mississippi Delta. Measured effectiveness of recruitment strategies, program retention, implementation ease, participant outcomes, and program satisfaction.
Author(s): Karen Hye-cheon Kim Yeary, Carol E. Cornell, Jerome Turner, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 8(6)
Date: 11/2011
Type: Document
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National Faith in Action on Maternal Health
Provides an overview of maternal health challenges and data in the United States, including mortality rates, mental health, substance use, intimate partner violence, needed services, and more. Provides strategies for community and faith leaders to improve maternal health, as well as a section specific to rural maternal health needs.
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (The Partnership Center)
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Rural Roads - The RCORP Podcast
Presents a podcast about community behavioral health services for grantees of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) hosted by RCORP-TA. Explores a variety of issues related to substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) in rural communities.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Rural Communities Opioid Response Program - Technical Assistance
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