Strong Rural Communities Initiative (SRCI)

Project Overview

2nd Funding Cycle Impact Award
     Project Start Date: 7/1/2006
     Project End Date: 6/30/2009

Project Goal Statement: The purpose of the Strong Rural Communities Initiative (SRCI) is to improve health indicators for selected rural communities in Wisconsin and significantly accelerate making collaboration for prevention the norm, not the exception, in rural Wisconsin.

Orignal Award Amount: $449,706
Adjusted Award Amount: $433,856*

Community Partners:
Primary Community Partner: Rural Health Development Council
Additional community partner organization names: Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative

Academic Partner:
Primary Academic Partner: Syed Ahmed, MD, MPH, Department of Family and Community Medicine

Project Progress Summary Reports:
     Project Progress Report Summary July 2006 - June 2008
     Project Final Report Summary    

Affiliated Web Pages:
     Rural Wisconsin Development Council
     Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative

Project Dissemination Efforts (as reported by project partners)

• Articles
  • Featured in the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative’s monthly newsletter, Eye on Health. February 2006.
  • Featured in the Wisconsin Hospital Association weekly newsletter
• Papers
  • Syed M. Ahmed, MD, MPH, DRPh, FAAFP; Tim Size, BSE, MBA; Byron Crouse, MD, FAAFP; Leslie Patterson, MS; Eric Gass, PhD; Sarita L. Karon, PhD; Liz Lund, BS; Connie Abert, MS; Amy Wergin, RN, BSN; Karen Hegranes, RN, MSN, PHN; Linda Bishop, MA; Sue Duffy, RN, BSN; Kevin Jacobson. Strong Rural Communities Initiative (SRCI) Program: Challenges in Promoting Healthier Lifestyles. Wisconsin Medical Journal. Volume 110, No.3, June 2011, 119-126.
  • Ahmed SM, Size T, Crouse B, Patterson L, Gass E, Karon SL, Lund L, Abert C, Wergin A, Resch J, Bishop L, Duffy S, Eich J. A Tale of One Statewide Rural Council, Two Medical Schools and Six Rural Communities.
  • Keller A (student). The Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Resource Kit: A Small Business Perspective.
  • Wisconsin’s Strong Rural Community Initiative. Discussion Paper #1: Statewide Support for Business Sector to Expand Wellness Initiatives. Rural Health and Economic Development Forum. April 10, 2008.
• Presentations
  • Presentations about the project given routinely at major state forums, including to the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative Board of Directors, Wisconsin Hospital Association Rural Committee, Wisconsin Health Policy Institute Advisory Board, and the Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute
  • Presented at two breakout sessions at the 2007 Wisconsin Rural Health Conference
  • Presentation at a statewide meeting of hospitals in Kansas. Summer 2007.
  • Presentation at a national meeting of the Federal Office of Rural Health grantees. Washington, DC. Summer 2007.

*In 2009 award amounts, based on the remaining budget, were adjusted to reflect the decline in endowment asset value due to the downturn in the economy.