Success Stories

Arthritis

In the mostly rural state of Kentucky, more than one million adults, or over 30% of the state’s adult population, have arthritis. The Kentucky Department of Health’s Arthritis Program, funded by CDC, is partnering with the Homeplace program at the University of Kentucky Center of Excellence in Rural Health to train community health workers to offer Chronic Disease Self-Management Program workshops in rural communities.

In the heart of the United States, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Arthritis Program offers Chronic Disease Self-Management Program workshops in five rural counties in the northeast corner of the state. These counties have some of the highest rates of arthritis in the state, affecting up to 1 in 3 people in the hardest hit areas. With limited resources and long distances to travel, some health clinics provide transportation for their patients to attend the workshop each week, making it easier to receive services.

To the west in Utah, approximately 408,000 adults or 20% of the state’s adult population have arthritis. Of those adults with arthritis, 45% are limited in their everyday activities because of the disease. Those in rural and frontier settings often have significantly less access to healthcare services. The Utah Department of Health’s Arthritis Program, funded by CDC, currently works with community organizations—HealthInsight, Intermountain Healthcare, and the Central Utah Department of Health—to offer a Chronic Disease Self-Management Program known as “Living Well,” which maintains a web portal where residents can easily register for and learn more about the workshops

Related Health Topics: Arthritis, Health Behaviors

Asthma

In implementing its home visitation program, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services used a Task Force recommendation from The Community Guide for home-based, multi-trigger, multi-component environmental interventions that support children and adolescents with asthma. CDC awarded the agency funding for a quality improvement plan, which referenced the Task Force recommendation. Within one month of implementation, the proportion of children in the program who experienced asthma-related symptoms dropped from 23% to 7%.

Related Health Topics: Child Health

Cancer Screening

In rural South Carolina the risk of cancer-related death is a complex public health problem. The St. James-Santee Family Health Center launched the Black Corals program to increase cancer screening among women. The Community Guide served as a resource to help the program dramatically increase breast and cervical cancer screenings in their community.

Related Health Topics: Cancer

Physical education

In Illinois, concerns of rising obesity rates led policymakers to write a plan for state standards that enhance physical education in schools based on evidence-based intervention strategies from The Community Guide. The plan requires regular fitness testing in every school, as well as curriculum development. More than 800 teachers from 300 school districts have been trained to implement the related standards.

Related Health Topics: Health Behaviors

Seat belts and child safety seats

Child safety seat use increased by 34% on the Yurok Tribe Reservation, four years after starting Buckle Up Yurok (BUY), a motor vehicle injury prevention program developed by the California Rural Indian Health Board. In 2010, the Board received a CDC grant to launch BUY. The grant required the program to use motor vehicle injury prevention strategies from The Community Guide. Program coordinator Danielle Lippert says, “The [Task Force’s] findings helped us choose interventions that we could be confident were effective.”

Related Health Topics: Motor Vehicle Safety