Dissemination Audiences for Mobile Healthcare Programs

A variety of audiences may benefit from learning about the successes and challenges experienced by rural mobile healthcare programs.

Sharing information with local partners and other organizations with similar goals can promote community referrals to the program. It is also important to inform the broader public health and policy sectors about the program's efforts. Sharing project outcomes with health departments, policymakers, and healthcare systems may lead to increased organizational and community buy-in, which is key for project success and sustainability. Finding a program champion who can speak to your successes — such as a community paramedic, local primary care provider, or former patient who is active in the community — can be a compelling way to share information.

Key audiences for disseminating information about rural mobile healthcare programs include:

• Healthcare systems and staff
• Public health systems and staff
• Primary care providers
• First responders:
  • Emergency medical service agencies
  • Police, sheriff, and public safety offices
  • Fire departments
• Insurance agencies
• Home health agencies
• Hospice centers and workers
• Social services providers:
  • Social work agencies
  • Local councils on aging
• Senior centers
• Community and faith-based organizations
• Prospective patients and their families
• Community members and the general public
• Local, state, and federal policymakers
• Foundations
• State Offices of Rural Health
• State health departments

Mobile healthcare programs may choose to disseminate to only some of these audiences and may change the way they communicate information depending on the audience they are trying to reach.

For a general list of key audiences for dissemination, see Methods of Dissemination in the Rural Community Health Toolkit.