West Virginia 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.
Evidence-Based Examples
Helping Kids PROSPER
Updated/reviewed January 2023
Updated/reviewed January 2023
- Need: An approach to support sustained, quality delivery of evidence-based programs for youth and families in rural communities.
- Intervention: PROSPER, a program delivery system, guides communities in implementing evidence-based programs that build youth competencies, improve family functioning, and prevent risky behaviors, particularly substance use.
- Results: Youth in PROSPER communities reported delayed initiation of a variety of substances, lower levels of other behavioral problems, and improvements in family functioning and other life skills.
Effective Examples
Regional Oral Health PathwayUpdated/reviewed August 2022
- Need: To address the oral health needs of low-income uninsured and underinsured residents in rural Appalachia.
- Intervention: An oral health education program was implemented in Appalachian Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
- Results: This program increased oral health visits in the area and provided residents with valuable information on oral health resources and services.
Community-Based Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program
Updated/reviewed February 2021
Updated/reviewed February 2021
- Need: More evidenced-based chronic lower respiratory disease management options for rural Appalachia patients, where lung disease rates are among the highest in the country.
- Intervention: Implementation of outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation programs in 2 Federally Qualified Health Centers and a Critical Access Hospital in West Virginia.
- Results: Improved health outcomes for patients with chronic lower respiratory disease, including those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Community Health Worker-based Chronic Care Management Program
Added May 2020
Added May 2020
- Need: Improve healthcare access and decrease chronic disease disparities in rural Appalachia.
- Intervention: A community health worker-based Chronic Care Management program demonstrated such a level of success in a single West Virginia county that it was further scaled for implementation in a multi-center, 3-state area of Appalachia.
- Results: When analysis of the disseminated program's results also demonstrated improved health outcomes and decreased healthcare costs, sustainability became possible due to innovative financial reimbursement models.
Health Coaches for Hypertension ControlUpdated/reviewed December 2019
- Need: A cost-effective approach to help rural patients with hypertension learn to manage their condition.
- Intervention: Community volunteers trained as health coaches provided an 8-session hypertension management training program to hypertension patients older than 60, with an optional supplemental 8 sessions focused on nutrition and physical activity.
- Results: Just 16 weeks after the program, participants had improved systolic blood pressure, weight, and fasting glucose, greater knowledge of hypertension, and improved self-reported behaviors.
Other Project Examples
Camp Mariposa
Updated/reviewed August 2022
Updated/reviewed August 2022
- Need: To help children whose family members are struggling with substance misuse.
- Intervention: A year-round program provides mentoring as well as substance use prevention education.
- Results: In 2021, Camp Mariposa served a total of 76 youth in its three rural locations in Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
Spit It Out-West Virginia
Updated/reviewed January 2022
Updated/reviewed January 2022
- Need: In the years prior to 2008, McDowell County, West Virginia, had high rates of tobacco use.
- Intervention: The Spit It Out-West Virginia program (2008-2010) was created to increase access to tobacco cessation and prevention resources.
- Results: Hundreds of people were provided with tobacco cessation efforts, 5 workplaces became tobacco free, and tobacco control efforts continue today.
Community Connections, Inc. Rural Health Opioid ProgramUpdated/reviewed December 2021
- Need: To reduce deaths due to opioid overdose in rural southeast West Virginia.
- Intervention: The Community Connections, Inc. Rural Health Opioid Program trained and certified first responders, healthcare staff, and laypeople in naloxone administration.
- Results: From October 2018 to September 2021, the program provided direct education to 638 individuals, trained 821 providers, and distributed 4,023 Narcan kits.
On the Move! Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment & Education (Operation UNITE)Updated/reviewed February 2021
- Need: To decrease illicit drug and alcohol use in the Central Appalachian region of Kentucky, where many schools had no type of prevention curriculum.
- Intervention: Using engaging simulations and presentations, the project delivers substance use prevention education to middle school and high school students.
- Results: Post-test surveys show that thousands of students are reached through the "On the Move!" project and gain positive knowledge on the dangers of substance use.
West Virginia's Partners In Health Network Regional Collaborative ServicesUpdated/reviewed September 2020
- Need: Coordinated approach to healthcare delivery in central and southern West Virginia.
- Intervention: Creation of a nonprofit organization that focused on quality and collaboration.
- Results: With an ability to provide services that meet the evolving needs of patients, providers, and communities, the organization provides unique services, such as a credentialing service and web-based data sharing care management tool.
Last Updated: 1/5/2023