Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Networking and collaboration
Sustaining Rural Labor & Delivery Programs: Strategies for Financial Analyses and Considerations for Maintaining Services
A guide for Critical Access Hospital and other rural hospital executives to use when assessing the financial viability of their Labor & Delivery programs. Outlines three strategies that may bring a Labor & Delivery program closer to sustainability and prevent unnecessary closure of services in rural areas.
Author(s): Eric Shell, Dahlia McGrath, Jeff Sommer, et al.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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A guide for Critical Access Hospital and other rural hospital executives to use when assessing the financial viability of their Labor & Delivery programs. Outlines three strategies that may bring a Labor & Delivery program closer to sustainability and prevent unnecessary closure of services in rural areas.
Author(s): Eric Shell, Dahlia McGrath, Jeff Sommer, et al.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Co-Creating Non-Congregate Summer Meals: Engaging Your Community to Design Your Program
Examines collaborative processes to create successful non-congregate summer meal programs in rural communities. Discusses a pilot program in Florida and offers suggestions related to meal sites, activities for children, caregiver appreciation, and more.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: No Kid Hungry
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Examines collaborative processes to create successful non-congregate summer meal programs in rural communities. Discusses a pilot program in Florida and offers suggestions related to meal sites, activities for children, caregiver appreciation, and more.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: No Kid Hungry
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Enhancing Primary Care Capacity for Cardiovascular Disease Management Through the ECHO+ Model: A Multistate Rural Collaboration Among West Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma
Examines quality of care and clinician capacity impacts of the ECHO+ cardiovascular disease (CVD) tele-education course, which included asynchronous pre-recorded lectures and a quality improvement learning collaborative for 41 rural primary care providers in West Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Provides data on ECHO+ impacts on CVD quality indicators, patient outcomes, and participant feedback.
Author(s): Dru Ricci, Hannah Schmitt, Heidi Ngov, et al.
Citation: Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 16
Date: 09/2025
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Examines quality of care and clinician capacity impacts of the ECHO+ cardiovascular disease (CVD) tele-education course, which included asynchronous pre-recorded lectures and a quality improvement learning collaborative for 41 rural primary care providers in West Virginia, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Provides data on ECHO+ impacts on CVD quality indicators, patient outcomes, and participant feedback.
Author(s): Dru Ricci, Hannah Schmitt, Heidi Ngov, et al.
Citation: Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 16
Date: 09/2025
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Distribution of Block Grant Funding: Considerations for Rural Communities
Analyzes the allocation of federal block grant funding from states to local communities via case studies of public health, community development, and substance use treatment funding distribution in six states. Highlights barriers and facilitators of rural funding, including agency staffing, flexibility, and cooperation and state-by-state variation in approaches to rurality.
Author(s): Kate E. Beatty, Casey P. Balio, Margaret M. Francisco, Michael B. Meit, Stephanie M. Mathis
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
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Analyzes the allocation of federal block grant funding from states to local communities via case studies of public health, community development, and substance use treatment funding distribution in six states. Highlights barriers and facilitators of rural funding, including agency staffing, flexibility, and cooperation and state-by-state variation in approaches to rurality.
Author(s): Kate E. Beatty, Casey P. Balio, Margaret M. Francisco, Michael B. Meit, Stephanie M. Mathis
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
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Precision Public Health Alliances as a Model and Method for Community Engagement
Examines the Precision Public Health Alliance (PPHA) approach of utilizing analytics to map social, demographic, and clinical comorbidity variables onto colorectal cancer (CRC) screening data in rural northeastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. Provides data on the relationship among sociodemographic information, clinical outcomes, and CRC screening to assess community needs. Discusses the importance of understanding social determinants of health (SDOH) and community collaboration when addressing population health.
Author(s): Margaret L. McGladrey, Mary Elizabeth Lacy, Kristen McQuerry, et al.
Citation: Frontiers in Public Health, 13
Date: 08/2025
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Examines the Precision Public Health Alliance (PPHA) approach of utilizing analytics to map social, demographic, and clinical comorbidity variables onto colorectal cancer (CRC) screening data in rural northeastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. Provides data on the relationship among sociodemographic information, clinical outcomes, and CRC screening to assess community needs. Discusses the importance of understanding social determinants of health (SDOH) and community collaboration when addressing population health.
Author(s): Margaret L. McGladrey, Mary Elizabeth Lacy, Kristen McQuerry, et al.
Citation: Frontiers in Public Health, 13
Date: 08/2025
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Building Healthier Rural Communities: Economic Development Districts Address Social Determinants of Health
Report outlining social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural areas and how Economic Development Districts (EDD) address them. Highlights workforce, infrastructure, food security, health, disaster preparedness, funding, data, and public-private partnerships. Includes a case study from an EDD in North Carolina and highlights the role of hospitals in the community.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Economic Development District Community of Practice, National Association of Development Organizations
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Report outlining social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural areas and how Economic Development Districts (EDD) address them. Highlights workforce, infrastructure, food security, health, disaster preparedness, funding, data, and public-private partnerships. Includes a case study from an EDD in North Carolina and highlights the role of hospitals in the community.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Economic Development District Community of Practice, National Association of Development Organizations
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Explaining the Diffusion of Project ECHO
Analyzes the creation and reach of the rural intervention Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO) to identify factors contributing to its rapid adoption as a model for mentorship and sharing knowledge in healthcare.
Author(s): James W. Dearing, R. Sam Larson
Citation: Implementation Science Communications, 6, 88
Date: 08/2025
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Analyzes the creation and reach of the rural intervention Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO) to identify factors contributing to its rapid adoption as a model for mentorship and sharing knowledge in healthcare.
Author(s): James W. Dearing, R. Sam Larson
Citation: Implementation Science Communications, 6, 88
Date: 08/2025
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New Rural Residency Program Addresses Physician Shortage
Profiles the rural healthcare residency program at Grand Itasca Clinic & Hospital in Minnesota. Discusses the collaboration with the University of Minnesota Medical School and Fairview Health and the importance of giving medical residents experience in rural primary care.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Profiles the rural healthcare residency program at Grand Itasca Clinic & Hospital in Minnesota. Discusses the collaboration with the University of Minnesota Medical School and Fairview Health and the importance of giving medical residents experience in rural primary care.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Working with Communities on Decisions for Innovative Treatment Technologies
Provides guidance for technical assistance providers and other decisionmakers in examining, planning, and implementing non-treatment and treatment responses to emerging contaminants, including PFAS, in small, rural, and underserved communities. Includes discussion of community decisionmaking, challenges of working with innovative technologies, and public health and infrastructure factors influencing adoption.
Additional links: Interactive guidebook
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Community Assistance Partnership
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Provides guidance for technical assistance providers and other decisionmakers in examining, planning, and implementing non-treatment and treatment responses to emerging contaminants, including PFAS, in small, rural, and underserved communities. Includes discussion of community decisionmaking, challenges of working with innovative technologies, and public health and infrastructure factors influencing adoption.
Additional links: Interactive guidebook
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Community Assistance Partnership
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Community Development in Rural Health Toolkit
A toolkit that provides local strategies, planning resources, assessment tools, evidence-based models, templates, and case studies related to rural health community development. Focuses on 5 key theories of rural community health development: social capital, asset-based community development, appreciative inquiry, participatory development, and collective impact model.
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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A toolkit that provides local strategies, planning resources, assessment tools, evidence-based models, templates, and case studies related to rural health community development. Focuses on 5 key theories of rural community health development: social capital, asset-based community development, appreciative inquiry, participatory development, and collective impact model.
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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