Rural and Frontier Health
The goal of NACCHO’s Rural and Frontier Health programs is to expand the public health capacity and capability of rural and frontier local health departments (LHDs) and communities.
NACCHO Rural Café | Sharing Smarter: Using Knowledge Management in Rural/Frontier Public Health
In this Rural Café, you will have the opportunity to engage with your peers to gain a deeper understanding of strategies and tools to enhance your capacity to create, organize, share, and use knowledge.
Closer to the event, you will receive an optional participation guide. This guide includes activities that reflect the discussion prompts to prepare you for the session. Please see below for the learning objectives for the meeting. You are welcome to forward this invite to any colleagues from your health department.
Learning Objective: Participants will leave the Rural Café with a deeper understanding of skills and resources they can use to share knowledge.
Proposed Experiential Objective: Participants will have the opportunity to connect with and learn from other health departments, which will promote peer-to-peer engagement and stimulate effective problem solving and information sharing.
For any questions, please email [email protected].Thursday, April 25, 2024 1pm - 2:30pm EST
Please register here
NACCHO’s Rural and Frontier Health Initiatives:
1. Building Workforce Capacity of Rural and Frontier Local Health Departments to Respond to COVID-19
This is a two-year project focused on increasing the workforce capacity of local health departments that serve rural/frontier jurisdictions to effectively respond to, recover from, and build community resiliency related to the COVID pandemic and other public health emergencies.
The focus of the training and technical assistance will be on:
- Emergency and Administrative Planning
- Communications
- Workforce Resilience
- Mental Health & Well-Being
- Health Equity
In April 2022, NACCHO conducted an exploratory survey of Rural, Frontier, and Small LHDs to understand their engagement in HAI, AMR and/or AMS activities or initiatives. Forty-four (44) health departments answered the call and responded to the exploratory online survey.
3. Local Health Departments (LHDs) Informing the Evolution of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP)
The purpose of this project is to increase the preparedness and response capacity of LHDs that serve rural and frontier jurisdictions to effectively respond to, recover from, and build community resiliency related to the COVID pandemic and future public health emergencies.
Starting in 2023, NACCHO will recruit Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Coordinators/Staff from rural local health departments (LHDs) to take part in a rural PHEP Subject Matter Expert (SME) Workgroup and regional listening sessions.
In these meetings, participants will review the current PHEP capabilities through the lens of a rural LHD to identify challenges faced meeting the PHEP capabilities given the current resources.
Interested in joining? Opportunities for recruitment will be posted in early 2023.
| Title/ Topic | Description | Content Area | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rural Health Provider Training Techniques Guide | This is an informational resource and training guide developed by the National Rural Health Association for rural clinicians providing screening, treatment, and medical care for HIV/AIDS patients. | HIV/STI | Guide |
| Rural HIV Care Transportation Information Sheet | This resource was developed by the National Rural Health Association highlighting how HIV/AIDS clinicians overcome transportation challenges in rural communities in America. | HIV/STI | Information Sheet |
| Challenges, Opportunities & Strategies for Rural LHDs Seeking Accreditation - Policy Brief | With funding from the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), researchers from the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health completed an investigation of opportunities and challenges related to public health agency accreditation among rural health departments. This resource is intended to provide additional contextual information for those already engaged in accreditation preparation efforts. | Accreditation | Policy Brief |
| Challenges, Opportunities & Strategies for Rural LHDs Seeking Accreditation - Full Report | This resource is intended to provide additional contextual information for those already engaged in accreditation preparation efforts. | Accreditation | Report |
| Rural Preparedness Planning Guide | This guide highlights findings from a panel of local health departments directors and emergency responders. They discuss their experience handling population surge and to identify guidelines other rural responders might use to improve their preparedness work. | Preparedness | Planning Guide |
| Workbook for Healthcare Providers in Rural Communities | Comprehensive guide developed by the Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness at Texas A&M. It is built to assist health departments, clinics, community health centers, and hospitals in rural in planning and responding to emergencies, including pandemic influenza. | Preparedness, Influenza | Workbook |
| Strategic Planning for Rural Health Networks | Practical guide for strategic planning among rural health networks including step-by-step instructions on how to prepare for the strategic planning process, identify strategic priorities, and design a strategic plan of action. This tool is particularly useful for organizations within formal collaborations interested in developing a collaborative strategic plan in preparation for national accreditation. | Strategic Planning | Guide |
| Survivor Tales: Real-Life Stories & What You Can Do To Be a Survivor (English) | Survivor Tales comic books tell the real-life stories of individuals who have weathered major disasters. The comics show how a disaster might play out and help readers determine what they might need to be survivors, too. These stories showcase how neighbors and communities can pull together and provide practical tips from actual survivors. This series of comics are broken down into three different personal preparedness messages addressing Flood, Earthquake and Hurricane preparedness. Each story is told by a real-life survivor and shares with the reader how they too can respond to a disaster. | Preparedness, Communications, All-Hazards | Comic Book, Communication Tool |
| Survivor Tales: Real-Life Stories & What You Can Do To Be a Survivor (Spanish) | Survivor Tales comic books tell the real-life stories of individuals who have weathered major disasters. The comics show how a disaster might play out and help readers determine what they might need to be survivors, too. These stories showcase how neighbors and communities can pull together and provide practical tips from actual survivors. This series of comics are broken down into three different personal preparedness messages addressing Flood, Earthquake and Hurricane preparedness. Each story is told by a real-life survivor and shares with the reader how they too can respond to a disaster. | Preparedness, Communications, All-Hazards | Comic Book, Communication Tool |
| Take Winter by Storm | A site that provides resources for cold weather preparedness. It includes information on different kinds of weather-related hazards, downloadable preparedness checklists, weather updates and emergency alert sign-up. | All-Hazards, Emergency Preparedness | Website, Toolkit |
| Physician Needs Indicator Worksheet | The worksheet helps to determine the number of physicians needed in your community. | Workforce Development, Recruitment | Worksheet |
| Health Equity Frameworks, Strategies, and Toolkits | This summary provides a synopsis of equity in public health resources. | Health Equity | Summary, report |
| Rural Community Health Workers Toolkit | This toolkit compiles promising practices and resources to support rural communities seeking to develop CHW programs. The target audiences for the toolkit are rural organizations including healthcare providers; nonprofit organizations; faith-based organizations; businesses; networks; and community-based organizations. | Workforce, Community Health Workers | Toolkit |
| Rural Health Equity Toolkit | The toolkit compiles evidence-based frameworks and promising strategies and resources to support health equity in rural communities. The toolkit modules contain information and resources focused on developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining rural programs that focus on health equity. | Health Equity | Toolkit, Modules |
| Conducting Hospital Employee Satisfaction Surveys: Step by Step Guide for Assessing Employee Perceptions | This guide serves as a tool to help assess employee satisfaction. It includes information on assessment methods and conducting employee satisfaction surveys. | Workforce, Retention | Guide |
| Strengthening the Rural Health Workforce to Improve Health Outcomes in Rural Communities | Twenty-fourth report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Congress. | Workforce, Covid-19, Disparities | Report |
| Cutting Tobacco's Rural Roots: Tobacco Use in Rural Communities | Health disparity report as of the Disparities in Lung Health series. The report addresses the prevalence of tobacco use and the cycle of tobacco addiction in rural communities. | Tobacco, Chronic Disease, Disparities | Report |
| Rural Obesity Prevention Toolkit | This toolkit is designed to help your program to identify factors in your community that promote obesity, convene partners to help address those problems, and apply proven obesity prevention strategies. | Obesity, Chronic Disease | Toolkit |
| Mennonites and Amish Resources | This document provides a summary of health resources for Mennonites and Amish communities. | Faith-Specific Care, Disparities | Summary |
| ESF-8 Situation Reporting Template | A resource for public health officials to use as they identify and circulate relevant information during disasters caused by natural, man-made, and technological hazards. | All-Hazards, Administrative Preparedness, Emergency Management, Planning | Template |
| Emergency Staffing Plan Template | A tool to help develop a preparedness plan for rapid staffing during emergencies or disasters. | Administrative Preparedness, Emergency Preparedness, Workforce, Planning | Template |
| Rural Disaster Behavioral Health Guide | The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a guide designed for outreach workers, crisis counselors, or other workers or volunteers providing support to rural populations after a disaster. The guide provides staff with knowledge and strategies to best support diverse rural communities. It considers risk factors, strengths, and common disaster reactions unique to rural communities to support best practices for ensuring disaster resilience and recovery. | Behavioral Health, Disaster Management | Guide |
| Rural Emergency Preparedness and Response Toolkit | The toolkit compiles evidence-based and promising models and resources to support organizations implementing emergency planning, response, and recovery efforts in rural communities across the United States. | Emergency Preparedness, Planning | Toolkit |
| Access to Care for Rural People with Disabilities Toolkit | This toolkit aims to provide rural communities with the information, strategies, resources, and other important materials that could be helpful in implementing a program to improve access to care for people with disabilities. | Disabilities, Access to Care, Disparities | Toolkit |
| Sustainability Framework | Framework developed by the Georgia Health Policy Center. Learn about the components that contribute to successful sustainability. | Sustainability | Document |
| Dynamics of Sustainability: A Primer for Rural Health Organizations | A "starter guide" that provides a head start on planning for sustainability for organizations. | Sustainability, Planning | Guide |
| Bringing the Future into Focus: A Step-by-Step Sustainability Planning Workbook | A step-by-step guide for producing a sustainability plan for your existing program. The workbook addresses program services, needs, cost and budgeting, and funding strategies. | Sustainability, Planning | Workbook |
| Challenges and Solutions for Disaster Behavioral Health in Rural and Remote Communities | Issue of the Supplemental Research Bulletin that focuses on challenges and potential solutions for delivering behavioral health care in disaster response in rural and remote areas. | Disaster Response, Frontier, Behavioral Health | Report |
| Rural and Frontier Mental and Behavioral Health Care: Barriers, Effective Policy Strategies, Best Practices | This document reports on the findings of a project to understand issues in mental and substance use disorder services in rural areas. It covers barriers to mental health and substance use disorder service delivery, model programs and policy strategies, and the roles of telehealth and state and local organizations in service delivery in rural communities. | Frontier, Mental Health, Behavioral Health | Report |
| Making Communications Work for You Toolkit | This document compiles a list of strategies, how to's, and plug-and-play content to support ongoing public health communication efforts. | Public Health Communications, Administrative Preparedness, Workforce, Infrastructure | Toolkit |
| Workforce Mental Health Strategies Playbook | Playbook of strategies for supporting mental health in the workplace. This playbook is organized into three sections: individual-level, team/small group level, and organization-level strategies. | Mental Health, Workforce, Preparedness, Organizational Well-Being | Guide |
| Building Bridges with Community Leaders and Influencers | This document compiles a list of strategies, how to's, and planning content to support your ongoing public health communications efforts. | Public Health Communications, Partnership, Best Practices | Guide |
Partner Organizations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – Rural Health
- Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) - FORHP advises the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services about health care issues affecting rural communities.
- Rural Health Information (RHI) Hub- The RHIhub is a clearinghouse of information on rural health issues. It also provides current resources on rural health care and population health including toolkits and models for programs that work in rural communities.
- Rural Health Research Gateway- The Rural Health Research Gateway provides access to research conducted by the Rural Health Research Centers, including rural health research products and journal articles.
- National Center for Farmworker Health- NCFH provides information services, training and technical assistance, and a variety of products to community and migrant health centers nationwide, as well as organizations, universities, researchers, and individuals involved in farmworker health.
NACCHO's initiative aimed at building and fostering a community of local public health officials and partners with a common interest and expertise in rural health issues; and to develop an environment for mutual exchange of knowledge and experience.
Previous Cafe Topics:
2023-2024
- Mental Health Strategies in the Workforce
- Health Equity in Action: Lessons Learned and Best Practices
2022-2023
- Rural Health Needs Assessment
- Mental Health
- Data and GIS Needs in Rural Communities to Promote Health Equity
- Workforce Mental Health Strategies and Situation Reporting
If you would like to be added to the mailing list for upcoming Rural Café sessions, please contact Victoria Freire at [email protected]
January 25, 2024 - Health Equity in Action: Lessons Learned and Best Practices
How to Connect?
If you are interested in working with other rural health departments to share best practices and lessons learned, develop recommendations and tools to strengthen the public health preparedness capacity of your department, email NACCHO’s Preparedness Team with a description of your jurisdiction and why you want to join the workgroup.
Rural local health department grantees for the "Building Workforce Capacity of Rural and Frontier Local Health Departments to Respond to COVID-19" project, year 1.
For more information about our rural and frontier health initiatives, contact Victoria [email protected]
Community Health Program
Victoria Freire
Senior Program Analyst, Rural Health
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Public Health Preparedness Program
Sarah Callahan
Program Analyst, Preparedness
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Public Health Preparedness Program
Emily Schreiner
Senior Program Analyst
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