Rural Project Examples: Healthcare needs and services
Effective Examples
Regional Oral Health Pathway
![funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy](/assets/4668-20779/forhp-badge-125.png)
Updated/reviewed August 2023
- 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.
Strong African American Families-Teen Program
Updated/reviewed May 2023
- Need: There is a lack of interventions that addresses teenager behavioral problems, particularly for rural African American adolescents.
- Intervention: Rural, locally trained leaders administered five 2-hour meetings for teenagers and their primary caregivers. Trainings focused on reducing risks that prevent positive development, specifically sexual risk-taking that can lead to HIV and other STIs.
- Results: Teens reported reduced conduct problems, depressive symptoms, and substance abuse. Families were strengthened, and SAAF-T reduced unprotected intercourse and increased condom efficacy.
Perinatal Health Partnership Southeast Georgia
![funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy](/assets/4668-20779/forhp-badge-125.png)
Updated/reviewed February 2023
- Need: In 12 rural southeast Georgia counties, high-risk pregnant individuals potentially face adverse birth outcomes, including maternal or infant mortality, low birthweight, very low birthweight, or other medical or developmental problems.
- Intervention: An in-home nursing case management program for high-risk pregnant individuals in order to maximize pregnancy outcomes for mothers and their newborns.
- Results: Mothers carry their babies longer and the babies are larger when born, leading to improved health outcomes.
New Mexico Mobile Screening Program for Miners
![funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy](/assets/4668-20779/forhp-badge-125.png)
![funded by the Health Resources Services Administration](/assets/4669-20781/hrsa-badge-125.png)
Updated/reviewed December 2022
- Need: To increase access to medical screening for miners in New Mexico.
- Intervention: A mobile screening clinic with telemedicine capability screens miners for respiratory and other conditions.
- Results: In a survey, 92% of miners reported their care as very good, while the other 8% reported it as good. The program has expanded to three other states.
NC-REACH: NC-Rurally Engaging and Assisting Clients who are HIV positive and Homeless
![funded by the Health Resources Services Administration](/assets/4669-20781/hrsa-badge-125.png)
Updated/reviewed November 2020
- Need: Provision of medical care access and follow-up for rural North Carolina HIV patients with mental health, substance abuse, and unstable housing/homelessness challenges.
- Intervention: Medical home staff model expanded to a care coordination program with a core Network Navigator and Continuum of Care Coordinator assisting with medical, behavioral health, and basic life needs.
- Results: To date, the program has advanced three aspects of medical home patient care for this target population: provided further understanding of the spectrum of homelessness, including "hidden" homelessness; implemented outreach with creation of new community partnerships and a community housing coalition; and integrated medical care and behavioral health care for HIV.
Vermont Hub-and-Spoke Model of Care for Opioid Use Disorder
Updated/reviewed August 2020
- Need: Increase access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in rural Vermont.
- Intervention: Statewide hub-and-spoke treatment access system.
- Results: Increased treatment capacity and care coordination.
Livingston County Help For Seniors
![funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy](/assets/4668-20779/forhp-badge-125.png)
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.
Midcoast Maine Prescription Opioid Reduction Program
Updated/reviewed May 2020
- Need: Reduction in the number of emergency department dental patients abusing opioid prescriptions in rural southeastern Maine.
- Intervention: Using a one-page opioid prescription guideline, opioid prescribing and emergency room visits for dental pain decreased.
- Results: The rate of opioid prescription dropped nearly 20% after implementation, and in comparing the 12-month period before and after implementation, dental pain emergency department visits decreased from 26 to 21 per 1,000.
Promising Examples
The Health-able Communities Program
![funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy](/assets/4668-20779/forhp-badge-125.png)
Updated/reviewed July 2024
- Need: Expand healthcare access for the more remote residents of 3 frontier counties in north central Idaho.
- Intervention: With early federal grant-funding, a consortium of healthcare providers and community agencies used a hybrid Community Health Worker model to augment traditional healthcare delivery services in order to offer a diverse set of health-related interventions to frontier area residents.
- Results: With additional private grant funding, success continued to build into the current model of an established and separate CHW division within the health system's population health department.
Cross-Walk: Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care
![funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy](/assets/4668-20779/forhp-badge-125.png)
Updated/reviewed May 2024
- Need: To address and treat substance use disorder (SUD) and depression in the Upper Great Lakes region.
- Intervention: Cross-Walk, a program that integrates behavioral healthcare into primary care services, was developed in Michigan's Marquette County.
- Results: The collaborative efforts strengthened care management services in local healthcare facilities as primary care patients were referred to a behavioral health specialist.
For examples from other sources, see: