Lafayette County 4 Health Project

The Lafayette County 4 Health Project is a three-year project that incorporates both community education and community outreach efforts to connect the vulnerable populations to an integrated network of local health and social support services. In the first year of the grant, the project was able to complete the 4-Life facility which provides: expanded health and social services to senior citizens, a new preschool which is ran by the local school district, a vocational training center for early childhood education, and a larger community health center (Rodgers-Lafayette. The result was a "one-stop shop" facility that integrates social services, education and health care services.

Throughout the life of the grant, Lafayette County 4 Health has introduced evidence-based programs to improve health outcomes and address disease prevention. These programs include: Missouri On the Move – a program designed to increase physical activity through a community walking program and address obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes; Jump Into Action – a program designed for 5th-grade students to increase physical activity, increase awareness of nutritional diets and addresses type 2 diabetes; Enhance Wellness and Enhance Fitness – a wellness program targeted for seniors, but available for anyone, that helps to develop personal wellness plans and provides support groups to achieve success.

The Lafayette County 4 Health Project successfully created a Rural Health Network during the course of the Rural Health Outreach Grant, with support from HRSA in the form of a Network Development Planning Grant, followed by a recently awarded Rural Health Network Development grant.

The most significant problem is the lack of health care professionals in the rural area, and urban professionals willing to go into the rural areas to practice. Rural counties, specifically Lafayette County is constantly struggling with the difficulties of recruiting and retaining health and dental providers. The consortium worked together to address this problem. Rodgers-Lafayette, for example, successfully leveraged some funds allocated for dental health care through the grant to bring two dentists to the clinic, while Pathways was able to leverage grant dollars to bring a full-time psychiatrist to the county. The availability of grant dollars to provide this leverage was important to the development of the project.

Additionally, one of the newly formed health care network members is now working in conjunction with the consortium to significantly expand scholarships and forgivable loans available to health care providers that will allow us to "grow our own" health care providers from the community who will return to the community to practice when they are trained. This is particularly important in addressing the shortage of physicians and nurses, as well as, finding dentists and psychiatrists willing to work in a rural setting.

Primary outcomes include:

• Significant increases in the provision of primary health care (nurse practitioner); dental health care (two additional dentists); and mental health care (licensed professional counselor and fulltime psychiatrist). This includes an expansion of services to the migrant population.
• Development and successful implementation of four- health and wellness programs: Saving Smiles; EnhanceWellness, Missouri on the Move; and Jump Into Action.
• The development of free medical advice and referrals to services through Lafayette On-Call.
• The development of a formal health network, along with a three year strategic plan for that network (including a plan for MIS).

Most importantly, the ability of divergent organizations to work together over a period of years for the good of the entire community is the most important take away message of this project. We believe strongly that the process of working together not only can be successful, but must occur, in other rural communities in order to increase and expand the services available to rural residents. It is only through this synergistic approach that true progress can occur and be sustained over time.

The project will continue after the funding for this grant concludes we would consider our project to be a best practice model. The Health Care Coalition has been asked by a neighboring county to discuss the possibility of a similar consortium and also to assist with the development of such program. The committee continues to work together to address the primary care of under and uninsured residents of Lafayette County.

Diana Hoemann, Project Director
District III Area Agency on Aging
Phone: 660-747-3107
E-mail: dhoemann@goaging.org