Communities in Action

To address substandard manufactured housing and improve housing-related health outcomes, Curry County, OR conducted a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and, ultimately, implemented a local housing rehabilitation loan and grant program paired with a targeted Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) housing rehabilitation program. Located along the southern coast of Oregon, Curry County’s residents...

To increase physical activity in a rural region with high rates of unemployment and poverty, and lots of snow, Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula Health Department created the Copper County Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities partnership. This partnership increased opportunities for active transportation through a Complete Streets policy, Safe Routes to School, and improved bicycle and walking...

The Indiana Integrated Care Community Health Worker/Certified Recovery Specialist (CHW/CRS) Training and Certification Program aims to better meet the behavioral health and primary care needs of the state’s rural, underserved counties. The program began in 2012, when the state of Indiana engaged Affiliated Service Providers of Indiana (ASPIN), a twenty year old behavioral health network, to...

Nursing students who commit to at least two years of work at a rural hospital following graduation could qualify for partial loan reimbursement, thanks to an eastern Montana program that’s aiming to recruit nurses to rural hospitals. The Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP) program, established by The Montana Health Network, employs nursing students the summer before graduation....

A severe shortage of primary care physicians in four rural southwestern New Mexico counties spurred the initiation of FORWARD NM’s Pathways to Health Careers program. The workforce pipeline program aims to increase the number of rural health care providers by building interest in rural health care work and providing programmatic, educational, and experiential learning opportunities in the...

Priority Spokane, Spokane Public Schools (SPS), and their partners joined together to form a Community Attendance Support Team (CAST) for each of the six SPS middle schools. CASTs focus on students in grades 7 and 8 who have four unexcused absences, and use a supportive intervention approach to try to resolve the student’s attendance problem. The CAST meeting includes the student and their...

Year-round residents of Catalina Island off the coast of California had to travel an hour by boat to the mainland, at a cost of $70 per trip, to access specialty care, until a telemedicine network was created to provide access to specialty care services, including telepsychiatry. The Catalina Island Medical Center (CIMC) collaborated with private and public sector partners to create...

The 2011 County Health Rankings served as an important communication tool for the organization Mason Matters and its partners. They used the data to build an understanding of the connection between a healthy community and educational success and, subsequently, to launch college and career readiness activities in Mason County. The following is just one sign of progress: through an analysis of...

United Way of Southeast Louisiana (UWSELA) has already successfully advocated for the inclusion of a quality rating system for the state’s large child care facilities, and it’s now advocating for licensing standards for small child care settings. By conducting focus groups throughout the state with small child care centers and the parents they serve, UWSELA gained valuable information about...

When data showed repeating patterns of childhood poverty and other poor health indicators in several New Hampshire neighborhoods, the City of Manchester Health Department, community leaders, and residents united to spark change. Working together, they built a common knowledge base and language to support a neighborhood-based approach...