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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community and faith-based initiatives

The Strong African American Families Program Improves Lives of Rural African American Youth
Video with transcript, describing a program developed by the Center for Family Research at the University of Georgia, designed to foster wellbeing and improve outcomes for rural African American young people ages 10-14. Describes challenges they face, and explores ways in which the program strengthens parenting, promotes youth protective factors, and decreases the likelihood that participants will engage in high-risk behaviors, including substance abuse.
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document, Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Institute on Drug Abuse
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Community-Driven Strategies to Address Stigma and Build Healthier Communities in Maine
Describes 3 communities working to reduce stigma in order to create equitable systems that enhance the health and well-being of Maine residents. Presents community responses to reducing stigma, common themes, and implications for complex system change initiatives in health.
Author(s): Susan Foster, Teresa Doksum
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Health Access Foundation
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Promising Practice: Sowing the Seeds of Healthy Eating in Rural Indiana
Illustrates how a training and education program for rural residents living in 7 rural communities within the New Allen Alliance (NAA), a partnership of communities in eastern Allen County, Indiana, encourages healthy cooking, access to healthy foods, and improved health.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Disrupting Food Insecurity: Steps Communities Can Take
Offers possible solutions to challenges that affect families' ability to afford a healthy diet. Explores strategies developed specifically to meet needs of overlooked rural communities, including help with housing and transportation.
Additional links: Interactive Data Dashboard
Author(s): Caroline Ratcliffe, Elaine Waxman, Cary Lou, Hannah Hassani, Victoria Tran
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
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Promising Practice: Forum on Aging in Rural Oregon Brings Together Innovative Ideas and Programs
Features a promising practice on rural aging from Oregon State Office of Rural Health. The annual Forum on Aging in Rural Oregon allows community organizations to come together to share ideas and resources on what works to address the needs of an aging population in their communities.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 09/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Multilevel Faith-Based Public Health Initiative in Rural Alabama, 2017
Examines the impact of Live Well Faith Communities, a 9-week, faith-based health promotion initiative undertaken in 14 faith communities in rural Alabama. Describes faith community policy and environmental changes related to promoting healthy eating and physical activity. Also discusses participant lifestyle changes.
Author(s): Alicia R. Powers, Ruth W. Brock, Katie Funderburk, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Improving Physical Activity and Outdoor Recreation in Rural Alabama Through Community Coalitions
Describes a community-based obesity reduction and prevention initiative which used community coalitions to implement research-based interventions. Interventions focused on improving opportunities for physical activity in 14 Alabama counties with high rates of obesity. Reports on the types of interventions implemented and their potential reach.
Author(s): William M. Carter, Wayde C. Morse, Ruth W. Brock, Barbara Struempler
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Implementation of Liver Cancer Education Among Health Care Providers and Community Coalitions in the Cherokee Nation
Describes an intervention in 2017-2018 to plan and implement activities to increase knowledge and awareness of liver cancer prevention among Cherokee Nation health care providers. Includes recommendations to improve viral hepatitis surveillance, increase support for strategies to eliminate hepatitis B virus, and enhance services including risk factor screening and serologic testing.
Author(s): Behnoosh Momin, Jorge Mera, Whitney Essex, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
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Obesity and Diabetes in the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska: From Community Engagement to Action, 2014-2019
Describes interventions implemented on the Winnebago Tribe reservation in rural Nebraska and Iowa, focusing on community-selected and culturally adapted policies, systems, and environmental improvements to reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes. Strategies include infant and childhood obesity prevention education, promotion of healthy foods and beverages, and improvements to pedestrian safety and built environment.
Author(s): Larry Alonso, Lorelei Decora, Ursula Bauer
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
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A Rising Tide: Increasing Rural Local Health Department Capacity to Address the Social Determinants of Health
Describes unique challenges faced by rural local health departments (LHDs), as well as assets such as community connectivity and trusted local institutions. Explores the ways in which partnerships, leadership, community engagement, data and evaluation, and community health improvement planning function as foundational elements in addressing social determinants of health in rural communities.
Author(s): Karla Feeser, Melissa Mayer, Ashley Edmiston
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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