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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community health workers

Impact of Improving Home Environments on Energy Intake and Physical Activity: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Reports on the effectiveness of a weight control intervention using health coaches to target home environments using the Healthy Homes/Healthy Families model. Examines changes in the patients' physical activity, calorie intake, and weight. The intervention focused on overweight and obese women in rural Georgia who were patients of community health centers.
Author(s): Michelle C. Kegler, Regine Haardörfer, Iris C. Alcantara, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 106(1), 143-152
Date: 01/2016
Type: Document
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Community Health Workers: Roles and Opportunities in Health Care Delivery System Reform
Identifies and discusses health services research on the utilization and integration of Community Health Workers (CHWs) into healthcare service delivery. Includes an analysis regarding the various CHW models, employment data, training and credentialing, and challenges associated with the development of this occupation.
Author(s): John E. Snyder
Date: 01/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Columbia Gorge Region, Oregon and Washington: 2016 RWJF Culture of Health Prize Winner
Describes how the communities within the Columbia Gorge region took a collaborative approach by developing a 15-member community advisory committee that included Medicaid recipients and Latino residents. Top concerns addressed by this committee were food, housing, jobs and transportation, along with improved access to dental and mental health, and better coordination among social services and healthcare providers. Projects included expanding the use and training of community health workers (CHWs) to assist Latino residents when navigating programs outside of healthcare and the development of a fruit and vegetable prescription program to support increased intake of healthy foods. A collective impact specialist was hired to help solve community problems through collaborative efforts, and to find grants and other sources of funding to support their projects. Columbia Gorge Region is a recipient of the 2016 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health Prize.
Date: 2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Community Health Worker (CHW) Toolkit: A Guide for Employers
Toolkit designed to provide prospective employers of community health workers (CHWs) a history and understanding of the field and how to implement CHWs into their practices in the state of Minnesota. Includes education and training requirements, a discussion of the roles of the CHW, and examples of successful community health worker models, among other topics.
Date: 2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
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ROI Toolkit: A Guide for Conducting a Return on Investment Analysis of Your Community Health Worker Health Program
A step-by-step guide to help healthcare organizations learn and understand the key elements for conducting a return on investment analysis for their community health worker (CHW) program. Requires free login to access.
Date: 2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: MHP Salud
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Mortality and Life Expectancy in Rural America: Connecting the Health and Human Service Safety Nets to Improve Health Outcomes over the Life Course
Policy brief describing the driving forces behind rural health disparities in Appalachian Kentucky. Offers nationally relevant recommendations for addressing these challenges. Discusses rural and urban differences in life expectancy and mortality rates, and other significant factors including behavioral health, substance abuse, population health, trauma care, and transportation.
Date: 10/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Using Community Participation to Assess Acceptability of "Contra Caries", A Theory-Based, Promotora-Led Oral Health Education Program for Rural Latino Parents: A Mixed Methods Study
Reports on a qualitative study of a promotora-led oral health education program for low-income, Spanish-speaking parents of children aged 1–5 years, conducted in a rural agricultural city in California.
Author(s): Kristin S. Hoeft, Sarah M. Rios, Estela Pantoja Guzman, Judith C. Barker
Citation: BMC Oral Health, 15, 103
Date: 09/2015
Type: Document
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Evaluation of the Frontier Community Health Care Coordination Network Grant
Policy brief analyzing the effectiveness of using community health workers as community healthcare coordinators during a 3 year period (2012–2015) in frontier Montana. Includes recommendations to other communities that may consider implementing this model. Project was supported by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Frontier Community Health Care Network Coordination (FCHCNC) grant program.
Date: 09/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
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Cultural Beliefs and Understandings of Cervical Cancer Among Mexican Immigrant Women in Southeast Georgia
Investigates the knowledge and beliefs among rural Latina immigrant women in southeastern Georgia about the causes of cervical cancer and apparent barriers to cervical cancer screening. A cross-sectional survey of 39 Mexican women was conducted and the information gathered was applied to inform and test the development and effect of using trained lay health advisors or promotoras to increase compliance with cervical cancer screening.
Author(s): John S. Luque, Yelena N. Tarasenko, Jonathan N. Maupin, et al.
Citation: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17(3), 713-721
Date: 06/2015
Type: Document
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HERO: New Mexico's Health Extension as a Model for Primary Care Transformation
Describes the benefits and lessons learned of a New Mexico state-wide primary care improvement infrastructure program - Health Extension Rural Offices (HERO) - to address social determinants of health. Through the use of extension agents (HEROs) information about patient centered medical homes (PCMH) and university resources was provided to 34 participating small primary care clinics of which half were rural. Program was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Infrastructure for Maintaining Primary Care Transformation (IMPaCT) Grants.
Author(s): Arthur Kaufman
Date: 04/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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