Rural areas face higher rates of many of the most prevalent chronic diseases, with some rural residents experiencing multiple chronic conditions, and higher rates of related mortality. Depending on the disease, different types of management activities and strategies may be appropriate.
Chronic disease management programs have been found to:
- Improve quality of patient care including individualized support
- Increase access to healthcare services
- Improve patients’ ability to self-manage chronic disease
- Reduce hospital admissions and emergency room visits
- Improve patient outcomes
- Increase patient satisfaction
- Reduce costs of managing chronic conditions
The Rural Chronic Disease Management Toolkit is your gateway to transforming rural health outcomes. The toolkit compiles evidence-based and promising models and resources to support the implementation of chronic disease management programs in rural communities across the United States. The modules contain resources and information focused on developing, implementing, evaluating and sustaining rural programs for the management of chronic disease. Several leading chronic diseases that affect rural populations may benefit from these approaches, including diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, arthritis, chronic kidney disease, cancer, obesity, and chronic pain. The strategies included in this toolkit do not specifically address all chronic diseases.
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Overview of and need for chronic disease management in rural communities in the United States |
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Models for chronic disease management programs |
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Examples of promising chronic disease management programs that have been implemented in rural communities |
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Important issues to consider and address when implementing a rural chronic disease management program |
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Tools that can help with evaluating a chronic disease management program |
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Resources to help with planning for the sustainability of chronic disease management programs |
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Ideas and resources for disseminating findings from chronic disease management programs |
- For information about rural programs for the prevention of chronic disease, see the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Toolkit, which highlights evidence-based and promising approaches for managing a wide range of chronic diseases.
- Access resources for addressing the social determinants of health and their impact on chronic disease management in rural areas are available in the Social Determinants of Health in Rural Communities Toolkit. Access the Rural Community Health Toolkit for additional resources on general community health strategies.
Toolkits are developed based on a review of FORHP grantees’ applications, foundation-funded projects, and an extensive literature review, to identify evidence-based and promising models. Programs featured in the toolkit were interviewed to provide insights about their work and guidance for other rural communities interested in undertaking a similar project. For questions or comments about the toolkit, or for further assistance with using the toolkit, please contact: RHIhub at 1-800-230-1898 or email info@ruralhealthinfo.org For requests to speak on the toolkit, please contact: Amy Rosenfeld, NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis at Rosenfeld-Amy@norc.org The Rural Chronic Disease Management Toolkit was first published on 6/14/24.
The Rural Health Information Hub is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Grant Number U56RH05539 (Rural Assistance Center for Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Cooperative Agreement). Any information, content, or conclusions on this website are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.