Rural Project Examples Addressing Wellness, health promotion, and disease prevention

Added November 2023

Need: To fill gaps in care for rural communities in southeastern Virginia while providing clinical placement opportunities for nursing students.
Intervention: A free mobile health clinic staffed by Old Dominion University nursing students that visits rural schools and other community centers.
Results: Hundreds of students have gained hands-on rural experience working in the clinic since its launch.

Updated/reviewed November 2023

Need: To provide personal development programs to ease isolation and provide resources for farm and rural women of Wisconsin.
Intervention: Wisconsin Rural Women's Initiative (WRWI) develops self-sustaining women's circles that work to maintain social connections and develop healthy practices in order to break down the isolating effects of rural living.
Results: WRWI has worked with rural and farm women in 67 counties, providing services that encourage and build self-esteem, teach skills for coping with change, and create an ongoing support system.

Updated/reviewed October 2023

Need: In Colorado, 31% of children have experienced dental decay by the time they reach kindergarten. With several frontier and rural counties in Colorado considered Dental Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), options for oral healthcare are limited.
Intervention: Cavity Free at Three (CF3) works to improve access to preventive oral health for pregnant women and young children.
Results: CF3 has trained over 6,000 medical and dental professionals in performing preventive dental health. The percentage of children who received oral healthcare from a medical or dental provider before the age of 2 has progressively increased, and Colorado saw reduced cavities starting in 2007.

Added October 2023

Need: To reduce drug overdose deaths and the spread of infectious diseases in rural Colorado.
Intervention: This program provides harm reduction and peer support to people who use drugs and to their loved ones.
Results: This program distributed 3,125 doses of naloxone and 4,760 fentanyl test strips in 2022.

Added October 2023

Need: To support pregnant and parenting women with a history of substance use, mental health, or co-occurring disorders in rural areas of Montana.
Intervention: One Health, a consortium of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), developed a team of "recovery doulas" – individuals who are dual-certified as doulas and peer-support specialists. The One Health recovery doula program offers group and individual services to women and their partners from pregnancy through the first years of parenthood.
Results: A team of nine recovery doulas (or doulas-in-training) employed by One Health offer services in ten rural Montana counties. Recovery doulas have provided essential support to women with substance use disorder, survivors of sexual abuse, unhoused individuals, and individuals facing other complex challenges.

Updated/reviewed September 2023

Need: Improved health outcomes for Monadnock Region, a rural area of New Hampshire.
Intervention: A wide-scale effort across multiple sectors is aiming to improve health outcomes throughout the region.
Results: Community health trends have been tracked over time, and progress on goals such as increasing the number of residents with healthcare coverage, opportunities for physical activity, access to healthy foods, and smoking cessation has been made.

Updated/reviewed August 2023

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 2022, Camp Mariposa served a total of 123 youth in its four rural locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. In a study, 93% of participants reported no use of any substance to get high.

Updated/reviewed August 2023

Need: Health initiatives in rural Pennsylvania communities to address locally-identified health disparities.
Intervention: Healthy Adams County was created by its rural community members to promote community-wide health.
Results: Community task forces have been formed to address breast cancer prevention, food policies, behavioral health, health literacy, oral health, tobacco prevention, and other rural, community-identified needs.

Updated/reviewed July 2023

Need: Due to systemic issues and historic lack of investment, people living in under-resourced rural communities in North Carolina– especially people of color– have poorer health than those living in urban areas.
Intervention: Funded by the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, Healthy Places NC invested $100 million over 10 years in rural North Carolina counties to improve residents' health.
Results: Healthy Places NC has generated excitement and promoted collaboration in the participating communities. A full evaluation of the first 10 years of the program will be released in fall of 2024.

Added July 2023

Need: To increase food security among low-income patients living with cancer and diabetes in rural Jefferson County, Washington.
Intervention: A local healthcare system partnered with a small organic farm to offer weekly produce boxes to eligible low-income patients.
Results: 10 patients participated in the Jefferson Healthcare prescription CSA program in 2022. In 2023, the program grew to serve 15 patients.

Rural Project Examples: Wellness, health promotion, and disease prevention