
Success Stories

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 ProgramExternal
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 WellExternal
Related Health Topics: Arthritis, Health Behaviors

In implementing its home visitation program, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services used a Task Force recommendation from The Community GuideExternal
Related Health Topics: Child Health

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 GuideExternal
Related Health Topics: Cancer

Variant flu infections, which are human infections with influenza (flu) viruses that normally circulate in swine (pigs) but not people, can occur each year in the United States. Many variant flu infections occur in children and often are associated with exposure to infected pigs or their environments at large agricultural fairs. In order to educate children and teens about variant flu and the actions that they can take to protect themselves and prevent the spread of flu between pigs and people, CDC collaborated with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)External
The Influenza and Zoonoses Education among Youth in Agriculture (Youth in Ag) program is a successful collaboration between CDC, USDA, CSTE, Land-grant universities, and state and local governments that aims to reach millions of rural youth and their families who are at a higher risk of exposure to swine (variant) influenza and other zoonotic diseases. Michigan is one of four states that has received funding since 2014. Through this program, Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS)External
Related Health Topics: Vaccines

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 GuideExternal
Related Health Topics: Health Behaviors

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 GuideExternal
Related Health Topics: Motor Vehicle Safety