Chase Reece, BSHP '24

This week, I primarily worked on three different grant projects: 1) improving participation among underrepresented communities in the All of Us program, 2) increasing access to care in rural areas through Collaborative Drug Treatment Management programs, 3) improving heart disease and diabetes outcomes in rural areas through community-wide health screenings. Each of these projects is in the preliminary stages of securing funding and conducting background research. Currently, my main task to support each one will be continuing to review and analyze background literature in addition to preparing literature reviews. Each of these projects has the potential to greatly improve the health of rural communities, but rural communities often face additional barriers to implementation such as lack of resources and overall attitudes and beliefs towards the project. That is why understanding all of the relevant literature and research on these topics is essential for effectively engaging the community and obtaining their trust. Many of these projects will be piloted in the fall, so it is important to have a good foundation to build off of in order to have a successful pilot program. Knowing the potential gaps or barriers in the projects beforehand will also help guide the pilot programs by emphasizing certain issues to examine and consider when piloting. Overall, it will be very interesting and a great opportunity to see these projects through from beginning to completion as I continue to work on them in the upcoming year. The health promotion competencies this week’s work aligns with include:

• 1.1.3: Identify existing and available resources, policies, programs, practices, and interventions.
• 1.2.1: Identify primary data, secondary data, and evidence-informed resources.
• 1.2.2: Establish collaborative relationships and agreements that facilitate access to data.
• 1.2.5: Determine the validity and reliability of secondary data.
• 1.2.6: Identify data gaps.
• 1.3.1: Determine the health status of the priority populations.
• 1.3.5: Determine the capacity to improve and/or maintain health.
• 5.1.1: Examine the determinants of health and their underlying causes related to identified health issues.