Tools & Resources
Community Health
Assessments and strategies designed to enhance the health of all individuals in a community across a spectrum of ages and conditions.
Evidence, Methods, & Models
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps - This resource provides data and recommendations based on a model of population health that emphasizes the many factors that, if improved, can help make communities healthier places to live, learn, work and play.
Drivers of Health - This framework was developed by the Harvard Global Health Institute by reviewing research on factors that influence health and surveying similar projects and tools from prominent organizations as a starting point to think about what drives health and how.
Guide for Rural Health Care Collaboration and Coordination - This HRSA guide describes how rural hospitals, community health centers, local public health departments, and other rural stakeholders can work together to assess and address their rural communities' health needs. (2019)
Improving Population Health: A Guide for Critical Access Hospitals - This guide by the National Rural Health Resource Center and Stratis Health provides support for incorporating population health principles and programs into strategic planning and operations based on feedback from subject matter experts from across the country. (2014)
Innovative Health Care Provider Roles - Address health care workforce challenges in creative ways, by expanding current provider roles and employing community members in new health care capacities using this Rural Health Value resource. (2020)
The Partnership for Public Health - As a joint effort of between the Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support (CSTLTS) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Hospital Association (AHA), and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the project team engaged health care leaders across the country to develop a suite of tools and resources that showcase leading strategies for active collaboration across the field.
The Role of Small and Rural Hospitals and Care Systems in Effective Population Health Partnerships - Strategies outlined by Health Research & Educational Trust provide support to leverage local community partnerships and relationships. (2013)
What Works? Strategies to Improve Rural Health - The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program provides strategies and ideas to help communities identify and implement solutions that make it easier for people to be healthy in their neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. (2016)
Tools and Resources
Finding Statistics and Data Related to Rural Health - This guide by Rural Health Information Hub will help you locate and use statistics and data in order to understand and communicate rural health needs.
Evidence-Based Toolkits for Rural Community Health - These toolkits from Rural Health Information Hub provide step-by-step guides for many topics to help build effective community health, including resources and examples drawn from evidence-based and promising programs.
Guide to Selecting Population Health Management Technologies for Rural Care Delivery - Better manage the health of existing patient populations by implementing technology with this guide from Rural Health Value that walks you through the process to plan for and implement the technology. (2017)
Hospital Based Strategies for Creating a Culture of Health - Transform the hospital's culture to a "culture of health in your community" using these strategies from Health Research & Educational Trust. (2014)
Pathways to Population Health: Getting Started Guide - Accelerating Population Health Progress - The Institute for Healthcare Improvement brings together various Pathways to Population Health (P2PH) tools and resources in a practical and actionable way to support health care professionals and organizations as they accelerate their progress toward the goals of population health, well-being, and equity. At the heart of the guide is the 10-Step Path to Progress. (2019)
Population Health: A Self-Assessment Tool for Rural Health Providers and Organizations - Developed by the Rural Health Value team, designed to provide a preliminary review of critical success factors for rural organizations looking to develop, expand, or enhance a population health focused approach. Fillable MS-Word version (2020)
Population Health Toolkit - Created by the National Rural Health Resource Center, provides a variety of tools and resources targeted towards supporting Critical Access Hospitals with population health strategies.
Rural Community Health Gateway - Find resources to build effective community health programs and improve existing services in this Rural Health Information Hub tool.
Rural Community Engagement Resource Guide - Provides rural health care leaders a variety of toolkits, strategies, and information to help initiate, improve, and inspire community engagement strategies that support value. The accompanying infographic highlights strategies for community engagement and benefits aligned with value-based care. (2023)
Rural Taxonomy of Population and Health-Resource Characteristics - A systematic tool created by Rural Health Value for classifying and identifying similar rural communities and places, using characteristics of community populations and health resources. (2015)
Understanding the Social Determinants of Health: A Guide for Rural Health Care Leaders - Provides rural health care leaders and teams with foundational knowledge, strategies, and resources to understand the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) on patients and communities and to recognize local needs and opportunities for action. (2022)
Using Data to Understand Your Community - Address the Triple Aim by using data to better understand your community's population using this Rural Health Value resource. (2020)
Profiles & Case Studies
Community Reinvestment Program - Learn about how a 12-county collaboration in rural eastern Oregon offers a community reinvestment grant program to achieve coordinated care organization metrics and innovate to improve health within individual counties in this Rural Health Value profile. (2018)
Health Outside Hospital Walls - This Rural Health Value profile describes how a rural provider offers healthy living options and fills health services gaps within the community-expanding care beyond the treatment and recovery of individuals to include a focus on overall population health. (2016)
Investing in Population Health - Learn how one community established a Medicaid population health support system in rural and frontier areas in this Rural Health Value profile. (2015)
Population Health Strategies of Critical Access Hospitals - Examine the population health strategies of eight CAHs that have made substantial commitments to population health and community health improvement in this Flex Monitoring Team profile. (2016)
Rural Health Network Thrives on Innovation in Whole-Person Care - This Rural Health Value profile describes Health Care Collaborative (HCC) of Rural Missouri, a rural health network comprised of more than 55 member organizations, wraps social service support around the patients who receive care at four HCC health care clinics. (2019)
Rural Health Value Summit: Driving Value Through Community-Based Partnerships - Four rural communities (in AR, MI, OR, SC) shared experiences with health care and community-based partnerships that highlighted opportunities for policymakers, payers, and health system leaders for building and supporting social needs infrastructure in rural communities in alignment with value-based care strategies. (2023)
Share Public Health: Rural Health - A podcast series from the Midwestern Public Health Training Center focussed on issues of rural public health. (2021)
Using Community Connectors to Improve Access - Increase access to home and community-based services by creating alternatives to institutionalized living and improving the quality of life for elderly and adults with physical disabilities while maintaining or decreasing costs using this Rural Health Value. (2014)
For additional project examples, visit the Rural Health Information Hub Rural Health Models and Innovations page.