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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community engagement and volunteerism

Disrupting Food Insecurity: Steps Communities Can Take
Offers possible solutions to challenges that affect families' ability to afford a healthy diet. Explores strategies developed specifically to meet needs of overlooked rural communities, including help with housing and transportation.
Additional links: Interactive Data Dashboard
Author(s): Caroline Ratcliffe, Elaine Waxman, Cary Lou, Hannah Hassani, Victoria Tran
Date: 10/2019
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
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Community Coalitions for Change and the Policy, Systems, and Environment Model: A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Addressing Obesity in Rural Tennessee
Reports on a community-based participatory initiative, Community Coalitions for Change (C3), to address obesity in four rural Tennessee counties. Discusses program results related to health education, physical activity, and healthy food choices.
Author(s): Heather Sedges Wallace, Karen L. Franck, Cori L. Sweet
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 09/2019
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Survey Development: Community Involvement in the Design and Implementation Process
Highlights how the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council Epidemiology Center (RMTEC) worked with one tribal community to develop a health priorities survey. Describes the importance of community involvement in public health activities and planning for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. Includes practice and policy implications.
Author(s): Allyson Kelley, Christopher Piccione, Aryn Fisher, et al.
Citation: Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 25(suppl 5), S77-S83
Date: 09/2019
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A Rising Tide: Increasing Rural Local Health Department Capacity to Address the Social Determinants of Health
Describes unique challenges faced by rural local health departments (LHDs), as well as assets such as community connectivity and trusted local institutions. Explores the ways in which partnerships, leadership, community engagement, data and evaluation, and community health improvement planning function as foundational elements in addressing social determinants of health in rural communities.
Author(s): Karla Feeser, Melissa Mayer, Ashley Edmiston
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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National Rural Health Association: Rural Veterans and Their Families Policy Paper
Policy brief focused on supporting the health of rural veterans and their families from a community-based systems perspective. Addresses public-private partnerships, faith-based solutions, leveraging the stories of veterans using media, and the financial and economic security of rural veterans.
Author(s): David Albright, Carter Florence
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Community-Clinical Linkages Within Health Care in Hawai'i
Special issue of the Hawaii Journal of Medicine and Public Health focusing on collaborations between the community and healthcare facilities to improve health in Hawaii. Covers community health workers, health systems-based programs, community health-center based programs, and provider-based programs. Addresses rural throughout.
Citation: Hawai'i Journal of Medicine and Public Health, 78(6 Suppl 1)
Date: 06/2019
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Improving the Health of Alaska Native People Through Use of a Policy Change Model and Capacity Building
Examines efforts by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in 2014-2017 to promote health and wellness through policy, systems, and environmental strategies. Describes a model outlining steps for policy change, including engaging the community, building support, and assessing education and outreach needed for decision makers and the public.
Author(s): Diane Redwood, Kristen Mitchell-Box, Erin Peterson, Ellen Provost
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 05/2019
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Opportunities to Advance Complex Care in Rural and Frontier Areas
Examines obstacles rural and frontier healthcare organizations face in providing complex care based on interviews with experts around the U.S. Focuses on rural social determinants of health, workforce shortages, and rural community relationships. Includes examples of models related to community collaboration, care coordination, social determinants of health, the health workforce, technology, and payment.
Author(s): Jim Lloyd
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Making Informed Decisions about Rural EMS
Provides an overview of the Informed Self-Determination Process, which can help a rural community make an informed decision about the level of emergency medical services (EMS) response the community wants and will support. Highlights how this approach was used in St. George, Maine.
Author(s): Tami Lichtenberg
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 04/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Promising Practice: Community Cafes in Alaska Give People a Say in Their Health Care
Provides an overview of the first community cafe sponsored by the Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) in Petersburg, Alaska, and facilitated by the Alaska State Office of Rural Health (AK-SORH). Covers the thought process behind the AK-SORH's idea to facilitate community cafes across the state. Describes the goals of community cafes: to educate and receive feedback on a topic chosen by the community, and learn more about the community's health needs.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 04/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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