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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community engagement and volunteerism

Examining the Role of a Community Coalition in Facilitating Policy and Environmental Changes to Promote Physical Activity: The Case of Get Fit Kaua'i
Examines Get Fit Kauai, a community coalition that brought changes in built environment (BE) policies and infrastructure changes to rural Hawaii. Describes how the community coalition developed a theory to explain the process of the community coalition facilitating BE change to support physical activity.
Author(s): Lehua B. Choy, Jay E. Maddock, Beverley Brody, Katherine L. Richards, Kathryn L. Braun
Citation: Translational Behavioral Medicine, 6(4), 638-647
Date: 12/2016
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Union General Hospital "It's a Girl Thing: Making Proud Choices"
Outlines Union General Hospital's "It's a Girl Thing: Making Proud Choices" program, which seeks to curb sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy in Farmerville, Louisiana. The program focuses on educating high school girls on topics such as self-esteem, dating and violence, finances, the consequences of teen pregnancy, and more. Also includes a brief discussion with one of the program developers.
Date: 10/2016
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Building Capacity in a Rural North Carolina Community to Address Prostate Health Using a Lay Health Advisor Model
Describes the feasibility of using a lay health advisor (LHAs) model to engage patients from a rural African American community in North Carolina about prostate health. LHAs, also called ambassadors, work to share information about prostate health and collect survey data. Includes demographic characteristics of the 15 ambassadors, such as age, gender, education, employment, and previous health education training.
Author(s): Anissa I. Vines, Jaimie C. Hunter, Brandolyn S. White, Alan N. Richmond
Citation: Health Promotion Practice, 17(3), 364-372
Date: 05/2016
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A Quasi-Experimental Study to Mobilize Rural Low-Income Communities to Assess and Improve the Ecological Environment to Prevent Childhood Obesity
Describes a study to be conducted in 14 low-income rural communities in Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, to find best practices to create and sustain healthy eating and physical activity and to prevent childhood obesity.
Author(s): Paula Peters, Abby Gold, Angela Abbott, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 16, 376
Date: 05/2016
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Activating Patients for Sustained Chronic Disease Self-Management: Thinking Beyond Clinical Outcomes
Describes the Expanded Health Coaches for Hypertension Control (EHCHC) project to increase the proportion of adults 45 years and older to self-manage their hypertension. Discusses how a primary care practice and a community-based program can work together to improve patient knowledge and support readiness for behavior change through various channels, including the use of trained volunteer community health coaches.
Author(s): Cheryl J. Dye, Joel E. Williams, Janet H. Evatt
Citation: Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 7(2), 107-112
Date: 04/2016
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Honoring Unsung Heroes in Communities Across America: Building Connections to Forge Solutions
Details the history of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders program, which ran from 1992 until 2015, and recognized grassroots leaders who advanced health in underserved communities.
Author(s): Kelsey Menehan, Mary Nakashian
Date: 04/2016
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Colorectal Cancer Prevention: Perspectives of Key Players from Social Networks in a Low-Income Rural US Region
Reports on a study based on interviews with "key players" within the social networks of rural Appalachian communities of Kentucky and Ohio. Discusses the role these individuals can play in promoting colorectal cancer (CRC) screenings and identifies the perceived barriers to CRC screenings within their communities.
Author(s): Nancy E. Schoenberg, Kathryn Eddens, Adam Jonas, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 11(1), 30396
Date: 02/2016
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An Ethnographic Meta-Synthesis of Three Southwestern Rural Studies
Summarizes the findings from 3 ethnographic, community-partnered studies in rural Colorado and New Mexico. Describes the process of meta-ethnography as a strategy for synthesizing findings.
Author(s): Jennifer B. Averill
Citation: Public Health Nursing, 33(1), 32-41
Date: 01/2016
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Strong Hearts, Healthy Communities: A Rural Community-Based Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program
Presents the Strong Hearts, Healthy Communities (SHHC) program to address gaps in knowledge and approaches to implement community-level interventions for women living in rural, underserved communities. SHHC aims to reduce cardiovascular disease and related healthcare burden by addressing issues such as diet, physical activity behaviors, the local built environment, and social norms.
Author(s): Rebecca A. Seguin, Galen Eldridge, Meredith L. Graham, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 16, 86
Date: 2016
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Lessons Learned from the MAVEN Project Pilot: Using Physician Volunteers to Increase Access to Care via Telehealth
Describes the evaluation of pilot program of the Medical Alumni Volunteer Expert Network (MAVEN) Project, which used experienced volunteer physicians to provide consults via telehealth to rural and inner-city providers. Pilot program offered telehealth visits at 3 community health centers in Massachusetts and California.
Author(s): Lori Uscher-Pines, Robert S. Rudin
Date: 2016
Sponsoring organization: RAND Corporation
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