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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Needs assessment methods and resources

State Office of Rural Health Roadmap for Working with Vulnerable Hospitals
Toolkit designed to assist State Offices of Rural Health (SORHs) when working with vulnerable hospitals and communities. Outlines the types of technical assistance (TA) that SORHs may provide before and after hospital closures and includes resources to help SORHs facilitate that assistance. Provides a self-assessment to help SORHs determine their capacity and select the appropriate levels of TA, as well as sample Critical Access Hospital needs assessments and benchmarking reports.
Date: 10/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Conducting Community Health Needs Assessments: A Ten-Step Process
Outlines a 10-step process for conducting community health needs assessments centered around a broad-based Community Group. Based on a model developed by the National Center for Rural Health Works.
Date: 05/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health
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Early Care, Early Education, and Home Visiting in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities: Design Options for Assessing Early Childhood Needs
Highlights a report presenting a framework for future studies of the unmet needs in early childhood care, education, and home visiting in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Identifies study designs using existing data on the national level and designs requiring new data collection at the community level.
Author(s): Lizabeth Malone, Emily Knas, Michael Cavanaugh, Jerry West
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Mathematica Policy Research
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Leveraging University-Community Partnerships in Rural Georgia: A Community Health Needs Assessment Template for Hospitals
Reports on a University of Georgia project where students and faculty conducted a community health needs assessment (CHNA) for a rural hospital. Provides a detailed, step-by-step description of the process used.
Author(s): Ayanna Robinson, Sabrina T. Cherry, Michelle Elliott, Marsha Davis, Grace Bagwell Adams
Citation: Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association, 5(4), 365-372
Date: 2016
Type: Document
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The Journey to Meet Emerging Community Benefit Requirements in a Rural Hospital: A Case Study
Historical review of relationships between government and nonprofit community hospitals, and case study of legislative mandates and community benefit requirements as applied by a small hospital in rural northern Indiana. Includes statistics with breakdowns comparing Wabash County Health with national benchmarks for selected health outcomes.
Author(s): Allison V. Sabin, Pamela F. Levin
Citation: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21(1)
Date: 10/2015
Type: Document
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Collaborative Community Health Needs Assessments: Approaches and Benefits for Critical Access Hospitals
Informs the efforts of state Flex Programs to support Critical Access Hospitals in conducting collaborative Community Health Needs Assessments. The results of these assessments can be used by hospitals as well as state Flex Programs to inform their ongoing strategic initiatives.
Author(s): John A. Gale, Andrew F. Coburn, Helen E. Newton
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Community Health Needs Assessment Toolkit
Designed to help rural hospitals conduct a community health needs assessment, which is a requirement for all 501(c)(3) hospitals.
Author(s): Gerald A. Doeksen, Cheryl F. St. Clair
Date: 05/2012
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: National Center for Rural Health Works, Oklahoma Office of Rural Health
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Best Practices for Community Health Needs Assessment and Implementation Strategy Development: A Review of Scientific Methods, Current Practices, and Future Potential
Discusses how public health and non-profit hospitals can work together to assess community health and plan for improvement. Addresses reasons rural hospitals and public health can benefit from working together. Based on a July 2011 public forum convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Author(s): Kevin Barnett
Date: 02/2012
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Public Health Institute
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New Medical School Engages Rural Communities to Conduct Regional Health Assessment
Describes how a medical school in rural Pennsylvania partnered with local communities to inform the school's curriculum and research agenda.
Author(s): Mariana Garrettson, Vera Walline, Janelle Heisler, Janet Townsend
Citation: Family Medicine, 42(10), 693-701
Date: 11/2010
Type: Document
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Community-Based Needs Assessment: Assisting Communities in Building a Stronger EMS System
Outlines a community planning process for rural EMS systems that that engages local stakeholders to facilitate appropriate planning and decision-making at the local level.
Date: 2007
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
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