The Delta States Rural Development Network
The Delta States Rural Development Network (DSRDN) Grant’s purpose is to fund organizations located in the eight designated Delta States through HRSA funding to address unmet local health care needs and prevalent health disparities through the development of new and innovative project activities in rural Delta Communities: The DSRDN Grant in Arkansas consists of two Arkansas Delta Regions; 1) Mid-Delta Community Consortium (MDCC) which covers 19 Southeast counties located in Region A (Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Chicot, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Grant, Jefferson, Lee, Lincoln, Lonoke, Monroe, Phillips, Ouachita, St. Francis, and Union) and 2) Delta Hills Rural Health Network (DHRHN) covers 20 Northeast counties located Region B (Baxter, Clay, Cross, Fulton, Greene, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Marion, Mississippi, Poinsett, Prairie, Randolph, Searcy, Sharp, Stone, Van Buren, White, and Woodruff). Both Arkansas Region A and B’s overall goal is to improve the healthcare delivery system in the Arkansas Delta.
ARKANSAS (Service Region A)
Mid Delta Community Consortium, Inc.
Project Director: Anna Huff, MDCC
Mid Delta Community Consortium (MDCC), a 501c3 in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Health (ADOH), the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Public Health (COPH), and Community Health Centers of Arkansas (CHCA) was created in 2001 to increase resources and understanding of partnerships to enhance and promote community driven health improvement. MDCC the Delta based partner has served as the lead agent for the consortium, the Arkansas Delta Rural Development Network (ADRDN). The consortium has worked toward establishing a comprehensive approach to address cardiovascular disease (CVD) and related risk factor disparities among African Americans in the Delta Region of Arkansas, specifically nineteen counties (Region B). The focus of the program is to utilize Community Health Advisor’s (CHA) and related lay-leader models to reduce disparities between African Americans and whites in cardiovascular disease and related risk factors in rural communities.
MDCC, through the Arkansas Delta Rural Development Network (ADRDN), has worked to create a comprehensive program utilizing CHAs throughout the nineteen Delta counties are in AR to assist in the reduction/elimination of risk factors associated with CVD (diabetes, hypertension, obesity). Key objectives: Maintain and expand the ARDDN network and partnerships with communities, agencies, and organizations to address chronic disease management; identify relevant programs and models in operation; develop systems of communication for networking and coordination among networks and communities; provide expertise in promising strategies to address health disparities; assess baseline statutes of health disparities and related factors in local networks; develop, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive model program for CVD risk reduction; provide funding to five multi-county networks; to provide training activities, for students interested in Community Based Public Approaches (CBPA) to reducing disparities in CVD; and provide/enhance prescription assistance programs across nineteen Delta counties.
ARKANSAS (Service Region B)
Delta Hills-Rural Health Network
Project Director: Nancy Coleman
The Delta-Hills Rural Health Network (DHRHN) was created in 2007 and is a consortium of state and local health care providers that have came together to operate the Delta States Region B program under a 7 member Network Steering (NSG)Group. DHRHN has worked to develop and continue the implementation of local health care programs through 4 local program networks, each composed of 5 counties. The DHRHN is led by a three member consortium, named the Delta-Hills Community Consortium (DHCC). It includes Health Resources of Arkansas (lead), Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc., and the Hometown Health Centers Branch of the Arkansas Division of Health. HRA, based in Batesville, Independence County, Arkansas, serves as the lead applicant and administers all grant funds from HRSA for this project. The NSG meets quarterly and has been primarily responsible for the advisement and oversight of the subcontracts to the four regional networks and assisting with monitoring, reviewing and approving performance/outcome measures.
The primary goal of the DHRHN’s project has been to improve the health care status of residents in 20 Arkansas Delta counties, by strengthening and expanding the local rural health networks in the targeted region. The four identified Local Rural Health Network’s have addressed Chronic Disease Management through Diabetes Education and Pharmacy Assistance programs. Specific objectives have been to (1) provide continual technical assistance, training, and resources to aid in developing existing and expanded local rural health networks; (2) monitor and evaluate the work performed by local networks; and (3) develop and implement a process by which local networks can secure funding from the U.S. Office of Rural Health Policy, as well as from other local, state, and national sources, to help sustain these activities.
