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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Wellness, health promotion, and disease prevention

Empowering Change: Promoting and Expanding Evidence-Based Programs in Rural Communities: A Toolkit for Community-Based Organizations
Toolkit identifying strategies to plan, implement, and sustain evidence-based health promotion programs in rural areas with a focus on the needs of older adults. Highlights partnerships, transportation, technology, and marketing and outreach for their ability to successfully impact health promotion programs.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Aging
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VHA 2024 State of Innovation Report
Reports on innovative programs and services in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. Highlights pilot projects, projects being planned, and projects already implemented at local VA facilities. Discusses rural projects related to physical therapy, telehealth for podiatry and dentistry, and social connection.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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Compendium of Best Practices for Rural Age-Friendly Care
Offers best practices, models of care, policies, and more related to offering age-friendly care in rural settings. Covers care coordination, caregiving support, behavioral health, community programming, community health workers, the 4Ms, and state-level priorities.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organizations: National Rural Health Association, The John A. Hartford Foundation
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Recommendations for Local Suicide Prevention Infrastructure
Presents a report detailing local infrastructure recommendations for suicide prevention. Discusses suicide prevention strategies, makes recommendations for partnerships, and implementation guidance for programs at the local level. Highlights considerations for rural communities and explores the role of culture in suicide prevention.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Suicide Prevention Resource Center
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Systems Of Cross-Sector Integration and Action across the Lifespan (SOCIAL) Framework Report
Discusses the Systems Of Cross-sector Integration and Action across the Lifespan (SOCIAL) Framework that explores social determinants of health and opportunities for collaboration across sectors. Provides strategies to address built environment and improve social connectedness among local citizens. Includes considerations and examples from rural areas.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Ashley Krombach, Erin Peavey, Risa Wilkerson, Abigail Barth
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Foundation for Social Connection
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The Dialogue: Rural and Remote Disaster Behavioral Health
Journal issue discusses the behavioral health needs and challenges during disasters in rural and remote communities. Highlights the mental health challenges that co-occur with disasters such as extreme heat, floods, droughts and other disasters in rural communities and details strategies for addressing them.
Citation: The Dialogue, 19(4)
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center
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Oral Health in Alabama: Unveiling the Burden and Pathways to Improvement
Reports on oral health in Alabama, highlighting issues across the lifespan, the relationship between oral health and other health conditions, protective factors, workforce, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and more. Discusses oral health disparities for particular groups including rural residents. Includes county-level data.
Author(s): Zachary W. Schulz
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organizations: Alabama Department of Public Health, Oral Health Office
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Remote Evidence-Based Programs for Health Promotion to Support Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Mixed Methods Outcome Evaluation
Evaluated the effectiveness of 5 evidence-based programs (EBP) for older adult health promotion that moved from in-person to remote delivery due to COVID-19. Analyzes both EBP participants and service providers on various participant health and wellness measures. Includes a breakdown of participant and service provider data by rurality.
Author(s): Lesley Steinman, Kelly Chadwick, Erica Chavez Santos, et al.
Citation: JMIR Aging, 7(2024), e52069
Date: 2024
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Tobacco Use Among MSAW: Environmental Scan Findings Report
Reports on tobacco use among migratory and seasonal agricultural workers (MSAWs) using surveys of MSAW-serving organizations and focus groups with MSAWs. Includes discussion of tobacco use, beliefs about health effects, tobacco use in the workplace, cultural differences, cessation programs, and more. Offers recommendations for healthcare providers and MSAW-serving organizations addressing tobacco use.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Farmworker Health
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Growing Resilience in Tough Times (GRITT): Development and Randomized Trial of a Farmer Mental Health Literacy Intervention
Evaluates the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a text message based mental health literacy program tested in 134 farmers. Discusses barriers to offering face-to-face mental health programming for farmers and other recruitment challenges related to COVID-19.
Author(s): Amanda J. Holmstrom, Gwyn Shelle
Citation: Journal of Agromedicine 29(3), 392-403
Date: 2024
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