West Virginia Models and Innovations

Evidence-Based Examples

Helping Kids PROSPER

Updated/reviewed January 2023

• Need: An approach to support sustained, quality delivery of evidence-based programs for youth and families in rural communities.
• Intervention: PROSPER, a program delivery system, guides communities in implementing evidence-based programs that build youth competencies, improve family functioning, and prevent risky behaviors, particularly substance use.
• Results: Youth in PROSPER communities reported delayed initiation of a variety of substances, lower levels of other behavioral problems, and improvements in family functioning and other life skills.

Effective Examples

Spit It Out-West Virginia

Updated/reviewed February 2024

• Need: Due to West Virginia's high ranking for its use of smokeless tobacco, prevention and cessation education efforts were needed.
• Intervention: Development and implementation of the Spit It Out-West Virginia program.
• Results: Supported by a 2008-2010 grant allowing the program to be delivered to hundreds of people, 5 workplaces became tobacco free. The program continues to be delivered across the state and reaches hundreds with its face-to-face presentations and thousands with its specific media prevention and cessation messages.

Community-Based Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program

Updated/reviewed January 2024

• Need: More evidenced-based chronic lower respiratory disease management options for rural Appalachia patients, where lung disease rates are among the highest in the country.
• Intervention: Implementation of outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation programs in 2 Federally Qualified Health Centers and a Critical Access Hospital in West Virginia.
• Results: Improved health outcomes for patients with chronic lower respiratory disease, including those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Health Coaches for Hypertension Control

Updated/reviewed September 2023

• Need: A cost-effective approach to help rural patients with hypertension learn to manage their condition.
• Intervention: Community volunteers trained as health coaches provided an 8-session hypertension management training program to hypertension patients older than 60, with an optional supplemental 8 sessions focused on nutrition and physical activity.
• Results: Just 16 weeks after the program, participants had improved systolic blood pressure, weight, and fasting glucose, greater knowledge of hypertension, and improved self-reported behaviors.

Regional Oral Health Pathway

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.

Community Health Worker-based Chronic Care Management Program

Added May 2020

• Need: Improve healthcare access and decrease chronic disease disparities in rural Appalachia.
• Intervention: A community health worker-based Chronic Care Management program demonstrated such a level of success in a single West Virginia county that it was further scaled for implementation in a multi-center, 3-state area of Appalachia.
• Results: When analysis of the disseminated program's results also demonstrated improved health outcomes and decreased healthcare costs, sustainability became possible due to innovative financial reimbursement models.

Other Project Examples

Camp Mariposa

Updated/reviewed August 2023

• Need: To help children whose family members are struggling with substance misuse.
• Intervention: A year-round program provides mentoring as well as substance use prevention education.
• Results: In 2022, Camp Mariposa served a total of 123 youth in its four rural locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. In a study, 93% of participants reported no use of any substance to get high.

West Virginia's Partners In Health Network Regional Collaborative Services

Updated/reviewed September 2020

• Need: Coordinated approach to healthcare delivery in central and southern West Virginia.
• Intervention: Creation of a nonprofit organization that focused on quality and collaboration.
• Results: With an ability to provide services that meet the evolving needs of patients, providers, and communities, the organization provides unique services, such as a credentialing service and web-based data sharing care management tool.

Garrett County Regional Cancer Patient Navigator Program

Updated/reviewed March 2020

• Need: Comprehensive cancer services for residents of an 8-county, 3-state area in Appalachia.
• Intervention: Using a Cancer Patient Navigation Tool Kit, a Maryland acute care facility led a multidisciplinary collaboration that provided the area's patients with expanded cancer treatment services.
• Results: In addition to several new cancer-related programs, expanded services are now available for cancer patients, families, and cancer survivors.