Kansas Models and Innovations

These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.

Promising Examples

Healthy Early Learning Project (HELP)

Updated/reviewed August 2024

• Need: An ongoing health need to alleviate early childhood obesity in the rural Kansas counties of Marshall and Nemaha.
• Intervention: 5 distinct physical and nutritional programs were introduced to 9 preschool sites through the overarching Healthy Early Learning Project (HELP).
• Results: HELP comprehensively increased children's physical activity and healthy food consumption and established a sustainable presence at each preschool site.

Schools That Care

Updated/reviewed August 2024

• Need: To provide mental health services to rural Kansas students and their families.
• Intervention: The Schools That Care project provides mental health treatment and case management as well as community education events.
• Results: From 2018 to 2021, 3,456 individuals participated in health education and counseling activities offered to the public, and 964 individuals and 303 families received direct services through the Family Advocate.

Other Project Examples

Jana's Campaign: Secondary Education Prevention Programming

Updated/reviewed April 2025

• Need: To reduce teen dating violence in middle schools, high schools, and youth organizations by promoting healthy relationship behaviors and fostering a culture of respect among adolescents.
• Intervention: Jana's Campaign offers prevention programs, including curricular and co-curricular activities, to highlight the 'red flags' and underlying causes of unhealthy dating relationships.
• Results: Since 2013, 677 middle and high schools and more than 102,350 students in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, Montana, and Washington State have benefited from these programs.

CAPABLE (Community Aging in Place—Advancing Better Living for Elders)

Updated/reviewed July 2024

• Need: To help older adults age in place.
• Intervention: For five months, CAPABLE participants receive home visits from a registered nurse, occupational therapist, and home repair services.
• Results: There are currently 42 CAPABLE sites across the country, 14 of which are located in rural communities.

Rural Recruitment Reimagined Workshop Presents the "Safe Sites" Model

Updated/reviewed April 2024

• Need: Strategies to recruit and retain providers to practice in rural settings.
• Intervention: A traveling one-day workshop was designed to share ideas and firsthand accounts on successful strategies on how to create "Safe Sites" for new recruits.
• Results: So far, workshops have trained over 250 hospital administrators, board members, and rural hospital recruiters.