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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Project Examples: People with disabilities

Effective Examples

Regional Oral Health Pathway

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed August 2023

  • Need: To address the oral health needs of low-income uninsured and underinsured residents in rural Appalachia.
  • Intervention: An oral health education program was implemented in Appalachian Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
  • Results: This program increased oral health visits in the area and provided residents with valuable information on oral health resources and services.

Promising Examples

SASH® (Support and Services at Home)

Updated/reviewed March 2024

  • Need: In Vermont, the growing population of older adults, coupled with a lack of a decentralized, home-based system of care management, poses significant challenges for those who want to remain living independently at home.
  • Intervention: SASH® (Support and Services at Home), based in affordable housing and their surrounding communities throughout the state, works with community partners to help older adults and people with disabilities receive the care they need so they can continue living safely at home.
  • Results: Compared to their non-SASH peers, SASH participants have been documented to have better health outcomes, including fewer falls, lower rates of hospitalizations, fewer emergency room visits, and lower Medicare and Medicaid expenditures.

Other Project Examples

Farm Assessment and Rehabilitation Methods (FARM) Program

Updated/reviewed February 2024

  • Need: To help farmers with disabilities continue farming while protecting their well-being.
  • Intervention: The FARM program helps disabled or ill farmers continue to operate and work their Wisconsin farms.
  • Results: Since 2009, the FARM Program has helped over 3,500 farmers continue to farm, resume farming, or find an alternative agricultural occupation.

North Carolina Innovative Approaches Initiative

Updated/reviewed July 2022

  • Need: Children and youth with special healthcare needs (CYSHCN) face many barriers to coordinated, comprehensive, and culturally competent healthcare.
  • Intervention: The North Carolina Innovative Approaches (IA) Initiative works with families of CYSHCN and other community leaders to make systems changes in the state's healthcare system.
  • Results: IA has impacted 22 counties and has had a positive impact on increasing family engagement and community capacity for systems changes.

For examples from other sources, see: