The Rural Health Information Hub (RHIhub) recently released a new topic guide on Violence and Abuse in Rural America, an issue which is often exacerbated in rural areas by limited access to support services and shelters, poverty as a barrier to care, and the stigma of abuse, among other things.
A new toolkit, produced in collaboration with the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, was also released: Rural Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse. This toolkit features evidence-based examples, promising models, program best-practices, and resources that can be used to guide the creation of a sustainable program through planning, implementation, and evaluation. The RHIhub hosted the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse in Rural Communities webinar introducing this toolkit and featuring examples of successful programs funded by FORHP on May 17, 2017. The recording is available online.
On May 3, the RHIhub hosted the newest webinar in the Insights from the CDC MMWR Rural Health Series on Mental and Behavioral Health of Rural Children on the corresponding CDC MMWR Rural Health Series report. Presenters examined factors that impact rural children’s mental and behavioral health, discussed their research findings, and presented an example of a successful program. The recording is available online.
The RHIhub published two new articles in the Rural Monitor:
- Rural Health Literacy: Who’s Delivering Health Information? is the second of a two-part series and highlights the efforts of people on the ground working to improve health literacy in rural areas.
- Feasting on Rural America: The Spread of Tick-Borne Diseases explores the world of tick-borne illnesses, which rural people are particularly prone to because of their proximity to tick habitats.
RHIhub’s second Twitter chat, #RuralHealthChat: Rural Health Networks and Coalitions, was held on May 25 with expert co-hosts from the National Cooperative of Health Networks Association, National Rural Health Resource Center, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, FORHP Community-Based Division, North Country Health Consortium, and the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative. A Storify of the chat, which allows you to read the tweet chronologically, is available. The next #RuralHealthChat will be on Oral Health Access in Rural Areas and will take place near the end of June.
The RHIhub released a new video in the Rural Programs Making a Difference video series related to their existing Healthy Early Learning Project (HELP) model, which increases physical activity levels in classrooms and teaches children about health eating through fun, interactive lessons.
Finally, six new Models and Innovations are available:
- Paris Metro Transportation in Texas
- Granville Health System’s Transitional Care Program and TeleTEAM Care for Diabetes Program in North Carolina
- Neighbor to Neighbor in Kansas
- Project ENABLE (Educate, Nurture, Advise Before Life Ends) which began in Vermont and New Hampshire and has recently expanded to the South, and
- The Pacific Care Model: Charting the Course for Non-communicable Disease Prevention and Management in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands.