Thank you everyone for taking your time this month to spend with us at the CAH Workshop and 2015 Annual Rural Health Conference. It was so wonderful to connect with you, our rural community!
During the conference we had the opportunity to hear from Crystal Jonas about connecting as employers and employees to aspire one another to be and do our best. When you create a positive culture internally you can better connect with your community. I know many of you have been combatting the impact of outmigration and Michelle Rathman shared many helpful strategies for this continuing challenge. Through community connection, outreach and engagement, you can take a holistic approach to meeting community needs. I know rural communities are faced with a good number of challenges, but the good news is you don’t have to go it alone. Did you realize that we have a data bank called HARC (Healthcare Awareness for Rural Communities) that contains over 400 population health measures? By engaging with CRHC we can customize data for your use to help with community health needs assessments as well as education within your community, hospital, and rural health clinic. Check out the issue brief on HARC, preview the interactive data on our website, and see the aggregate infographic profile that combines data from our iCARE (Improving Communications and Readmissions) program and HARC data. Click here to get started.
As you think about National Community Planning month and this year’s theme “Healthy Communities, Healthy People,” I encourage you engage with your community. Be creative! Why not organize a community meet and greet? In fact, that is what CRHC is doing to celebrate National Rural Health Day on November 19th. We are joining forces with the community of Estes Park to celebrate the power of rural and I encourage you all to celebrate in your communities and share your pictures with us.
Thanks for all you do every day to serve your communities and thank you for allowing CRHC to be part of your rural community.
