Rural Public Health Agencies – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Public Health Agencies.
Beyond Borders: Benefits and Challenges of Leading a Multi-County Health Department
Discusses the impact of consolidating small jurisdictions of local health departments to create multi-county health departments that serve at least 50,000 people, in effort to build economies of scale and better improve population health. Includes an interview with Becky Johnson, administrator of the SEK Multi-County Health Department (SEKMCHD) in southeast Kansas, that provides insight on the benefits of multi-county health departments and strategies to overcome obstacles and sustain services.
Author(s): Kevin Kovach
Date: 06/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Kansas Health Institute
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Discusses the impact of consolidating small jurisdictions of local health departments to create multi-county health departments that serve at least 50,000 people, in effort to build economies of scale and better improve population health. Includes an interview with Becky Johnson, administrator of the SEK Multi-County Health Department (SEKMCHD) in southeast Kansas, that provides insight on the benefits of multi-county health departments and strategies to overcome obstacles and sustain services.
Author(s): Kevin Kovach
Date: 06/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Kansas Health Institute
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A Guide to Building a Climate-Ready Rural Workforce
Guides local health departments in establishing and expanding climate and health programs for rural areas. Discusses climate-related environmental health challenges and activities, including sections on surveillance and data use, partnerships, communication and outreach, workforce development, and mental health.
Author(s): Nikita Kheni, Angana Roy, Aliya Al-Sadi, Beth Hess
Date: 06/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Guides local health departments in establishing and expanding climate and health programs for rural areas. Discusses climate-related environmental health challenges and activities, including sections on surveillance and data use, partnerships, communication and outreach, workforce development, and mental health.
Author(s): Nikita Kheni, Angana Roy, Aliya Al-Sadi, Beth Hess
Date: 06/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Forces of Change: 2023 Survey Results
Presents results from a 2023 survey of 532 local health departments (LHDs). Provides data on LHD staffing and budgets, billing practices, community health workers, programs and partnerships focused on social determinants of health and violence prevention, data modernization, and outbreak analytics. Includes comparisons of small, medium, and large LHDs.
Author(s): Margaret C. Cunningham, Krishna Patel, Chloe Garofalini, Kellie Hall, Timothy C. McCall
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Presents results from a 2023 survey of 532 local health departments (LHDs). Provides data on LHD staffing and budgets, billing practices, community health workers, programs and partnerships focused on social determinants of health and violence prevention, data modernization, and outbreak analytics. Includes comparisons of small, medium, and large LHDs.
Author(s): Margaret C. Cunningham, Krishna Patel, Chloe Garofalini, Kellie Hall, Timothy C. McCall
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Service and Resource Sharing Approaches – Focus on the Public Health Workforce
A recorded webinar that discusses how public health departments can maximize efficiency through service and resource sharing. Focuses on workforce challenges such as capacity, the healthcare pipeline, recruitment, and retention; diversity, equity, and inclusion training; public trust; and more. Includes examples from rural public health systems. Transcript available in tool bar.
Date: 04/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Public Health Accreditation Board
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A recorded webinar that discusses how public health departments can maximize efficiency through service and resource sharing. Focuses on workforce challenges such as capacity, the healthcare pipeline, recruitment, and retention; diversity, equity, and inclusion training; public trust; and more. Includes examples from rural public health systems. Transcript available in tool bar.
Date: 04/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Public Health Accreditation Board
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Ready or Not 2024: Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism
Report explores the readiness of state public health systems to respond to emergencies, such as diseases, disasters, and bioterrorism. Focuses on measures such as hospital safety scores, vaccination rates, and water system maintenance, among others. Includes rural considerations throughout.
Author(s): Matt McKillop, Rhea K. Farberman, Dara Alpert Lieberman
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Trust for America's Health
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Report explores the readiness of state public health systems to respond to emergencies, such as diseases, disasters, and bioterrorism. Focuses on measures such as hospital safety scores, vaccination rates, and water system maintenance, among others. Includes rural considerations throughout.
Author(s): Matt McKillop, Rhea K. Farberman, Dara Alpert Lieberman
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Trust for America's Health
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Service & Resource Sharing in Rural Settings: A Perspective Report - Overcoming Common Barriers Faced by Rural Local Health Departments
Discusses the challenges of small and rural local health departments (LHDs) regarding limited resources and capacity. Analyzes 12 examples of service and resource sharing arrangements (SRSAs) that allow LHDs to improve the quality of their services, advance health equity, and provide better healthcare access to local populations.
Author(s): Wyatt J. Beckman, Haleigh Leslie, Christen Minnick, Olivia Sulivan, Nneoma Ubah
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: East Tennessee State University Center for Rural Health Research, Kansas Health Institute, Public Health Accreditation Board Center for Innovation
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Discusses the challenges of small and rural local health departments (LHDs) regarding limited resources and capacity. Analyzes 12 examples of service and resource sharing arrangements (SRSAs) that allow LHDs to improve the quality of their services, advance health equity, and provide better healthcare access to local populations.
Author(s): Wyatt J. Beckman, Haleigh Leslie, Christen Minnick, Olivia Sulivan, Nneoma Ubah
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: East Tennessee State University Center for Rural Health Research, Kansas Health Institute, Public Health Accreditation Board Center for Innovation
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Critical Access Hospital-Local Health Department Partnerships to Address Rural Community Needs
Explores Critical Access Hospital (CAH) involvement in collaborative community health networks that include local public health departments (LHDs), other healthcare organizations, social service agencies, and other community organizations. Uses survey data from the American Hospital Association (AHA) to describe the collaborative partnerships CAHs are engaged in, the organizations with which they partner, and the activities these partnerships undertake. Presents findings from qualitative interviews with four pairs of CAH and LHD leaders regarding challenges and lessons learned from these local-level collaborations. Identifies three areas of activity - community health needs assessments, emergency preparedness planning, and emergent public health crises - that provide an opportunity to encourage collaboration between CAHs and LHDs and address priority needs
Author(s): Zachariah Croll, Celia Jewell, John Gale
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Explores Critical Access Hospital (CAH) involvement in collaborative community health networks that include local public health departments (LHDs), other healthcare organizations, social service agencies, and other community organizations. Uses survey data from the American Hospital Association (AHA) to describe the collaborative partnerships CAHs are engaged in, the organizations with which they partner, and the activities these partnerships undertake. Presents findings from qualitative interviews with four pairs of CAH and LHD leaders regarding challenges and lessons learned from these local-level collaborations. Identifies three areas of activity - community health needs assessments, emergency preparedness planning, and emergent public health crises - that provide an opportunity to encourage collaboration between CAHs and LHDs and address priority needs
Author(s): Zachariah Croll, Celia Jewell, John Gale
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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2022 National Profile of Local Health Departments
Provides a study of local health department infrastructure and practice. Discusses topics including leadership, workforce, emergency preparedness and response, public health policy, information technology, financing, and more. Includes analysis by degree of urbanization throughout.
Author(s): Margaret Cunningham, Krishna Patel, Timothy C. McCall, et al.
Date: 2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Provides a study of local health department infrastructure and practice. Discusses topics including leadership, workforce, emergency preparedness and response, public health policy, information technology, financing, and more. Includes analysis by degree of urbanization throughout.
Author(s): Margaret Cunningham, Krishna Patel, Timothy C. McCall, et al.
Date: 2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Supporting Resilience in Rural Areas Through Cross-Sector Partnerships
Discusses the importance of working across multiple agencies and organizations to address social, economic, and environmental determinants of health. Describes the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach that uses cross-sector strategies to build health infrastructure and sustainability, with examples from rural communities.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
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Discusses the importance of working across multiple agencies and organizations to address social, economic, and environmental determinants of health. Describes the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach that uses cross-sector strategies to build health infrastructure and sustainability, with examples from rural communities.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
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2023 National Preparedness Report
Summarizes progress made and challenges that remain in building and sustaining capabilities needed to prevent and recover from threats and incidents that pose the greatest risk to the nation. Examines some of the disasters that occurred in 2022 and includes sections on risk areas, capability areas, and focus areas, including fire management, supply chain management, public health and emergency medical services, and long-term vulnerability reduction.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Emergency Management Agency
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Summarizes progress made and challenges that remain in building and sustaining capabilities needed to prevent and recover from threats and incidents that pose the greatest risk to the nation. Examines some of the disasters that occurred in 2022 and includes sections on risk areas, capability areas, and focus areas, including fire management, supply chain management, public health and emergency medical services, and long-term vulnerability reduction.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Emergency Management Agency
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Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:
Last Updated: 6/21/2024