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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community health workers

Innovative Health Care Provider Roles
Discusses healthcare provider types that might have the potential to benefit rural communities including community health workers, community paramedics, patient advocates, health coaches, and dental therapists.
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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Availability of Health Insurance Literacy Resources Fails to Meet Consumer Needs in Rural, Appalachian Communities: Implications for State Medicaid Waivers
Reports on the availability of health system and community‐based programs promoting health insurance literacy and supporting informed consumer healthcare decision making in rural Kentucky. Findings are based on focus groups and interviews conducted with healthcare providers, community health workers, patient navigators, and others primarily serving rural Appalachian counties in the state.
Author(s): Jean Edward, Robin Thompson, Andrea Jaramillo
Citation: Journal of Rural Health
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
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Finding Innovation and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Rural Health Organizations Are Adapting Their Program Strategies
Summarizes a series of virtual peer learning sessions in response to COVID-19 for current Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program, Rural Health Network Development, Small Healthcare Provider Quality Improvement, and Delta States Rural Development Network program grantees. Provides an overview of common themes that emerged from the sessions. Discusses the challenges and innovations made to implement rural health and public programs across six areas: community health workers, data collection and evaluation, virtual trainings, peer support services and recovery supports, telehealth utilization, and schools.
Additional links: Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Adjusting Approaches to Data Collection and Utilization, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Peer Support and Recovery Services in a Virtual Environment, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Strategies for Supporting Community by Maintaining Work With Schools, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Taking Community Health Worker Practice Virtual, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Using Telehealth in New and Improved Ways to Meet Emerging Needs, Guide for Planning and Hosting an Effective Virtual Meeting/Training Event
Author(s): Tanisa Adimu, John Butts, Coleman Tanner, et al.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Health Policy Center
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Strengthening Community-Clinical Linkages to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Rural NC: Feasibility Phase of the CHANGE Study
Highlights a study evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of a cardiovascular disease prevention program using community health worker (CHW) interventions. Analyzes the CHANGE program in rural North Carolina and discusses the program's design, implementation, and outcomes.
Author(s): Carmen D. Samuel-Hodge, Ziya Gizlice, Sallie D. Allgood, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 20, 264
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
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An Emerging Model for Community Health Worker-Based Chronic Care Management for Patients With High Health Care Costs in Rural Appalachia
Describes a community health worker-based chronic care management model implemented in rural counties in 3 central Appalachian states. Demonstrates how to engage health insurance companies to support and sustain this model.
Author(s): Richard Crespo, Matthew Christiansen, Kim Tieman, Richard Wittberg
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 17
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
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Rural Health Predictions: Q&A with Alan Morgan
An interview with National Rural Health Association (NRHA) CEO Alan Morgan. Focuses on NRHA's work on rural health issues and shares rural health predictions for 2020.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Building Partnerships to Improve Health in the Rural South: CareSouth Carolina
Provides an overview of CareSouth Carolina, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), and its approaches to increase engagement with low-income patients in its service area. Describes the role of community health workers to address social determinants of health. Discusses partnerships with community organizations and the development of an independent practice association with other FQHCs in South Carolina. Includes CareSouth Carolina's performance scorecard and a summary of lessons learned.
Author(s): Martha Hostetter, Sarah Klein
Date: 02/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Recognizing and Sustaining the Value of Community Health Workers and Promotores
Discusses the ways in which community health workers and promotores (CHW/Ps) contribute to the healthcare system, with a focus on California. Gives examples of the ways in which CHW/Ps in rural areas can alleviate workforce shortages, strengthen patient engagement with the healthcare system, and act as liaisons to social structures, including churches and Native American tribal organizations.
Author(s): Jim Lloyd, Kathy Moses, Rachel Davis
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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The Rural Health Care Coordination Network Partnership Program: Worcester County Health Department
Describes and examines the impact of a care coordination program developed by the Worcester County Health Department located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Describes the program's care team of a registered nurse, masters-level social worker, and community health worker (CHW), working in collaboration with primary care providers. Serves patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure (CHF), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with a home visit and services tailored to the patient's unique needs. Funded under the Rural Health Care Coordination Network Partnership Grant Program from 2015-2018.
Date: 2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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The Rural Health Care Coordination Network Partnership Program: Williamson Health and Wellness Center
Describes and examines the impact of a care coordination program developed by the Williamson Health and Wellness Center based in Williamson, West Virginia. Describes the program's use of care teams of community health workers, a registered nurse, and a nurse practitioner providing care coordination to patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure (CHF), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Funded under the Rural Health Care Coordination Network Partnership Grant Program from 2015-2018, with additional private funding from a network of local philanthropies.
Date: 2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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