Rural Project Examples Addressing Health workforce

Updated/reviewed April 2026

Need: To provide increased educational opportunities for emergency care personnel in rural and frontier South Dakota.
Intervention: A technologically advanced training was created to enhance the delivery of emergency patient care.
Results: Hundreds of emergency medical services (EMS) staff and volunteers received training that in turn helped them in the field of emergency patient care.

Updated/reviewed April 2026

Need: Increase health profession students' awareness of how plain language and health literacy principles can improve their written and spoken health messaging.
Intervention: Using a writing project that leverages plain language in health messaging, health profession learners participating in rural clinical rotations write health information articles for publication in rural community newspapers.
Results: Since the North Dakota program's start in 2017, nearly 100 students have successfully published articles in about 25 rural newspapers in 3 states. In recent years, increased program visibility has led to reprint and additional articles requests from a variety of state news publications, advocacy organizations, professional societies, and recent model replication in New York.

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: Because early identification can impact the health and well-being outcomes of those with memory conditions, Florida's rural populations would benefit from access to screening followed by specialty referral for Alzheimer's Disease and other dementia types.
Intervention: A state university used a state health department grant to develop a cognitive impairment screening program in rural Florida areas that was administered by Community Health Workers. An additional grant provided rural primary care clinicians with a free online continuing education module covering cognitive impairment and dementia.
Results: At project completion, Community Health Workers had engaged nearly 600 participants to participate in health screenings and cognitive assessments, making about 1,300 referrals to community social and medical services.

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: The results of a 2013 county need assessment revealed that increased healthcare access would benefit the low resource areas of rural Hardin County, Ohio.
Intervention: With grant awards that included a 2015-2018 federal grant and in collaboration with local healthcare delivery systems, a rurally-located university pharmacy program's faculty and doctoral learners brought regularly scheduled pharmacist-led mobile clinic health services — ONU HealthWise Mobile Clinic — to the low resource areas of Hardin County, Ohio.
Results: In the decade since the original grant award, pharmacist-led mobile healthcare services' continued success has led to an expanded operation with a dual focus of providing both rural healthcare services and a setting to train rural practice-ready pharmacists. Additionally, interprofessional experiences for other healthcare profession learners have been added. In 2025, state-granted financial support allowed growth to include the purchase of a second vehicle expanding community pharmacy and telehealth services in surrounding rural counties.

Updated/reviewed March 2026

Need: More emergency medical service professionals in rural northwestern Wisconsin.
Intervention: In 2015, a collaborative effort of a State Office of Rural Health and a regional non-profit job training agency created a pipeline program offering 6-8th grade girls participation in a summer camp that provided an experiential setting demonstrating emergency medical services career opportunities.
Results: With a 10-year record of success and community support, in 2026, the program continues into its next decade with 20 participants per year.

Added March 2026

Need: To strengthen and grow capacity for the community health worker (CHW) workforce in rural Arizona.
Intervention: RAzCHOW is building rural workforce infrastructure through a coordinated network model that strengthens CHWs and the organizations that employ them.
Results: RAzCHOW has reported increased network capacity, trainings for CHWs, utilization of CHW services, and integration into healthcare teams and care coordination.

Added February 2026

Need: To improve the recruitment and retention of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in rural northern California.
Intervention: A community of practice and grant program for advanced practice providers sponsored by the California Health Care Foundation and Partnership HealthPlan of California.
Results: Five rural clinics and one clinic network have joined the program and hosted fellows.

Added February 2026

Need: To connect people with health-related social needs to community resources in rural Sevier County, Utah.
Intervention: The Southern Utah AHEC Community Health Workers program completed home visits and motivational interviewing with clients and connected them to community resources.
Results: The program served 247 people.

Updated/reviewed January 2026

Need: To reduce the number of overdoses and overdose-related deaths from opioids in rural Pennsylvania.
Intervention: ARMOT provides 1) case management and recovery support services to individuals with substance use disorders and 2) education and support to rural hospital staff, patients, and their loved ones.
Results: Since 2015, ARMOT has received over 2,956 referrals.

Updated/reviewed January 2026

Need: To promote mental health and prevent substance use disorders in rural Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska.
Intervention: Coast to Forest strengthened local capacity through training, technical assistance, education, and community partnerships.
Results: Since the project's launch in 2020, it trained over 800 individuals across the Pacific Northwest in Mental Health First Aid, developed 100 county-level resource guides, organized a series of Community Conversations in five rural Oregon counties, and more.

Rural Project Examples: Health workforce