New York Models and Innovations

Sickness Prevention Achieved through Regional Collaboration (SPARC, Inc.®)
Updated/reviewed July 2023

Need: Population-based rates of adult vaccinations and cancer screenings are low. Delivery rates are lower still in low-income and minority communities.
Intervention: SPARC was established to develop and test new community-wide strategies to increase the delivery of clinical preventive services.
Results: Across the United States in both rural and urban communities, SPARC programs, which broaden the delivery of potentially life-saving preventive services, have been successfully launched, improving residents' health.

University of Vermont Medical Center's Nursing Home Telepsychiatry Service
Updated/reviewed September 2021

Need: To improve the health status and access for rural nursing home patients in need of mental health services.
Intervention: The University of Vermont Medical Center provides telepsychiatry care and education to nursing homes in communities that face shortages of mental health professionals.
Results: These telepsychiatry consultations have eased the burden on nursing home residents by saving travel time, distance, and money it takes to travel to the nearest tertiary facility.

Livingston County Help For Seniors
Updated/reviewed May 2020

Need: Meeting the health needs of geriatric patients in rural Livingston County, New York.
Intervention: The Help for Seniors program was developed and using its 'vodcasts,' local EMTs were trained in geriatric screening methods and health needs treatment.
Results: In addition to developing a successful model for educating EMS personnel, the program screened over 1200 individuals and identified various risks among the geriatric population.

Genesee and Orleans County Cross Jurisdictional Sharing Project (GO Health)
Updated/reviewed September 2023

Need: Two rural upstate New York counties struggled to provide necessary public health leadership and services amid a fluid environment with rising costs and funding limitations.
Intervention: The Genesee County and Orleans County health departments began a cross jurisdictional sharing relationship that integrated select functions and services, beginning with sharing a director and deputy director.
Results: By sharing personnel and functions, management personnel costs have been cut in half and both counties have saved over $2 million for the counties combined.

CAPABLE (Community Aging in Place—Advancing Better Living for Elders)
Updated/reviewed July 2023

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 over 35 CAPABLE sites across the country, 11 of which are located in rural communities.

Clinic for Special Children
Updated/reviewed July 2023

Need: To provide healthcare for the genetically vulnerable children and adults of 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 2022, about 1,400 active patients with more than 400 unique genetic mutations were treated at the Clinic for Special Children.

Health Profession Rural Summer Immersion Program
Updated/reviewed June 2023

Need: To expose medical and physician assistant students to rural healthcare practices and a rural lifestyle.
Intervention: A two-week immersion program for second-year students to experience rural healthcare and rural life in Connecticut and New York.
Results: In post-program evaluations from 2016 to 2018, 50% of students reported being very likely to practice in a rural setting, compared to just over 10% of students before the program.

The Rural Outreach Center
Added June 2023

Need: To expand services for individuals and families living in poverty in rural Western New York.
Intervention: The Rural Outreach Center (ROC) offers care coordination, therapy, budgeting assistance, and multiple other services and opportunities to help address immediate needs as well as empower individuals to work toward long-term freedom from generational poverty.
Results: The Rural Outreach Center serves approximately 250 adults and children each year through counseling, care coordination, and empowerment opportunities. The ROC reports that many participants have achieved and sustained goals related to housing, savings, employment, and other social determinants of health – which are also measures of poverty.

Schoharie County ACEs Team
Updated/reviewed December 2022

Need: Agencies in Schoharie County, New York were seeing a widespread trend of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in children and families they served.
Intervention: The Schoharie ACEs Team was formed as a way to educate rural communities about ACEs, the brain science behind it, and ways to build resiliency.
Results: The ACEs Team has put on 4 half-day educational conferences, 2 virtual conferences, and 10 trainings for various groups across the region, trained 3 school districts on trauma-informed care, and provided resources for families exposed to trauma.

Seneca Strong's Certified Addiction Recovery Coaches
Updated/reviewed July 2022

Need: Like many Native American populations, the Seneca Nation of Indians has experienced disproportionate rates of opioid, alcohol, and substance misuse.
Intervention: The Seneca Nation Government and Executives founded Seneca Strong, a cultural recovery peer advocate program, with the goal of reducing substance misuse across the Nation.
Results: Seneca Strong has since grown in personnel and capacity to meet the needs of the Allegany and Cattaraugus territories of the Seneca Nation.

Evidence-Based Examples