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Community Development Tools and Resources

On this page:

Resources
Organizations
Funding
Tools

American Hospital Association: Community Health Resources
This site provides a variety of tools and resources on different topics effecting community health.

Blandin Community Leadership Program
The program is designed for community teams that reflect the diversity of their community - established and emerging leaders from many walks of life - educators, business owners, elected officials, executives, health care professionals, clergy and retirees.

Center for Community Leadership
The Center for Community Leadership assists states, counties, cities, territories, Native American Tribes, and public and private organizations to successfully serve the needs of children and adults, especially those with disabilities, in their homes, schools and communities.

Community and Economic Development Distance Education
Distance Learning opportunities at Cornell Cooperative Extension include formal programs and courses from Cornell University as well as in-formal, self paced opportunities.

Community Connections (ComCon)
The Community Connections (ComCon) Technical Assistance and Information Center is the information resource for the Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Community Health Improvement Partnership (CHIP)
Community Health Improvement Partnership, or CHIP, brings together a dynamic collaboration of individuals, not-for-profit organizations, hospitals, and other agencies dedicated to building better health and wellness.

Guide to Prevention Quality Indicators (PQI)
The User Guide and Technical Specification provide direction on the rationale of the Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs). It also provides an overview of the methods used to identify, select, and evaluate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Quality Indicators (QIs), a summary of the literature based evidence, empirical rates based on the State Inpatient Databases, and detailed definitions for each PQI. Potential users of this document include hospitals, State data organizations, and hospital associations.

Healthier US.gov
The Healthier US initiative is a national effort to improve people's lives, prevent and reduce the costs of disease, and promote community health and wellness.

Healthy Arkansas
This site includes worksite wellness guides and toolkits.

New Views on Causes of Rural Poverty
An individual living in a rural community is nearly twice as likely to be poor than the identical person living in a metro area. The reasons for this disparity have been largely attributed to structural factors, such as differences in economic and social opportunities.

PQI Comparative Data, Ver 3.1
The User Guide and Technical Specification provide direction on the rationale of the Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs). It also provides an overview of the methods used to identify, select, and evaluate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Quality Indicators (QIs), a summary of the literature based evidence, empirical rates based on the State Inpatient Databases, and detailed definitions for each PQI. Potential users of this document include hospitals, State data organizations, and hospital associations.

Prevention Institute
Prevention Institute is a non-profit national center dedicated to improving community health and well-being by building momentum for effective primary prevention. The Institute's work is characterized by a strong commitment to community participation and promotion of equitable health outcomes among all social and economic groups.

Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs) Brochure
The User Guide and Technical Specification provide direction on the rationale of the Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs). It also provides an overview of the methods used to identify, select, and evaluate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Quality Indicators (QIs), a summary of the literature based evidence, empirical rates based on the State Inpatient Databases, and detailed definitions for each PQI. Potential users of this document include hospitals, State data organizations, and hospital associations.

Prevention Quality Indicators (PQI) Technical Specifications
The User Guide and Technical Specification provide direction on the rationale of the Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs). It also provides an overview of the methods used to identify, select, and evaluate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Quality Indicators (QIs), a summary of the literature based evidence, empirical rates based on the State Inpatient Databases, and detailed definitions for each PQI. Potential users of this document include hospitals, State data organizations, and hospital associations.

Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leaders
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) supports programs that involve a diverse group of promising scholars and leaders in leadership development, training and research. We make investments to build specific fields within health and health care and help ensure that our nation has a sufficient, well-trained workforce that provides direct care and services to patients.

Rural Assistance Center's Community Development Information Guide
This site includes a comprehensive list of tools, funding, documents, news and events for community development.

Tracking Health in Underserved Communities
Tracking Health in Underserved Communities is a website sponsored by the National Library of Medicine and Meharry Medical College that highlights health disparities in underserved communities.

Use of Preventive Services Among Hispanic Sub-Groups: Does One Size Fit All?
The South Carolina Rural Health Research Center at the Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina developed this report. The publication, entitled "Use of Preventive Services Among Hispanic Sub-Groups: Does One Size Fit All?", is authored by Myriam E. Torres, PhD, MSPH; Jessica D. Bellinger, MPH; Janice C. Probst, PhD; Nusrat Harun, MSPH; and Andrew O. Johnson, PhD.

Association for Community Health Improvement
A national association for community health, healthy communities and community benefit.

Community Action Partnership
The Community Action Partnership was established in 1971 as the National Association of Community Action Agencies (NACAA) and is the national organization representing the interests of the 1,000 Community Action Agencies (CAAs) working to fight poverty at the local level.

Community Development Society
The Community Development Society provides leadership to professionals and citizens across the spectrum of community development. Members have multiple opportunities to learn what's new in the profession, to exchange ideas, to obtain the most current research and reference information available and to share professional expertise.

Community Leadership Association
The Community Leadership Association is a non-profit organization, founded in 1979, dedicated to nurturing leadership in communities throughout the United States and internationally. The Community Leadership Association enhances the capacity of community leadership programs to strengthen and serve their communities.

Economic Development Administration
The Economic Development Administration (EDA) was established under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3121), as amended, to generate jobs, help retain existing jobs, and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically distressed areas of the United States. EDA assistance is available to rural and urban areas of the Nation experiencing high unemployment, low income, or other severe economic distress.

National Association for County Community & Economic Development
The National Association for County Community and Economic Development (NACCED) is a nonprofit national organization composed of county government agencies that administer community development, economic development, and affordable housing programs. NACCED also serves as a voice within NACo to articulate the needs, concerns, and interests of these agencies.

National Center for Rural Health Works
The purpose of Rural Health Works is to provide a process by which community residents can evaluate their health system. Rural Health Works engages community residents in local health care decision-making by showing them the importance of the health care sector to their local economy.

USDA Rural Development
USDA promotes economic development by supporting loans to businesses through banks and community-managed lending pools. They offer technical assistance and information to help agricultural and other cooperatives get started and improve the effectiveness of their member service. They also provide technical assistance to help communities undertake community empowerment programs.

Affiliated Community Health Foundation
The Affiliated Community Health Foundation exists to help improve our population's health in SW Minnesota. With grant monies and gifts from many of our business partners and individuals, we distribute funds to improve healthcare to people throughout the rural region.

With the projects that we support, we touch many lives in numerous ways. For example, we work with elementary school children to promote exercise and proper eating. We help youth of all ages reduce the harmful effects of tobacco use. We provide support for abused children and adults. We provided fitness centers to area schools. We provided prenatal education and helped to improve prenatal care in the region. We increase the immunization rate among children and adults with the SW Immunization Information System. The foundation continues to look at, evaluate and fund innovative heathcare projects that have the potential to become models to improve community health. For more information about Affiliated Community Health Foundation, contact Greg Spartz at (320) 214-6821 or email gregs@acmc.com.

Rural Assistance Center: Community Development Funding
This site provides a thorough resource for community development funding opportunities.

Association for Community Health Improvement (ACHI) Assessment Toolkit
The ACHI Community Health Assessment Toolkit is a guide for planning, leading, and using community health assessments to better understand--and ultimately improve--the health of communities. It provides insight to the assessment process drawn from experienced professionals and a variety of proven tools.

Building Better Rural Places: Federal Programs for Sustainable Agriculture, Forestry, Conservation and Community Development
This guide is from the USDA and is written for anyone seeking help from federal programs to foster innovative enterprises. Specifically, the guide addresses program resources in community development, sustainable land management, and value-added and diversified agriculture and forestry. Thus, it can help farmers, community developers, and many other individuals, as well as private and public organizations, both for-profit and not-for-profit.

Community Development Technical Assistance Handbook: Community Development Programs
This handbook was developed by the USDA. The purpose of this handbook is to provide information and guidance concerning the community development technical assistance process and the delivery of these services to Rural Development clients. This handbook may be used in combination with other guidance including the Community Development Programs briefing book and toolbox at: http://ocdi.usda.gov.

Community Health Planning: The Nominal Group Process
This document explains what the nominal group process is; the steps involved in the nominal group process; development of a mission statement; and the activity plan.

Community Service Needs Assessments
This document is a compilation of questions used by telephone interviewers to determine respondent perceptions of local health care services and to discover un-met services. Developed by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health.

Community Toolbox: Bringing Solutions to Light
The Tool Box provides over 6,000 pages of practical skill-building information on over 250 different topics. Topic sections include step-by-step instruction, examples, check-lists, and related resources.

Conducting Key Informant and Focus Group Interviews
This manual is an instructional approach to conducting two types of interviews to better understand local attitudes toward health services. It can be used with a market survey to assess community perceptions. Published by Mountain States Group.

Healthy Community Design
This report profiles efforts of leaders who are supporting healthy community design across the nation. Some of the efforts stem from a desire to support economic development. All of the policy changes and programming efforts have a positive effect on health because they support community design that provides more opportunity for people to engage in routine physical activity. These stories serve as example of how vision, leadership and dedication can enable healthy community design.

Market Survey Construction Kit
This manual provides practical step-by-step information for assessing community perceptions about local health care services. The kit is a guide designed for individuals with little experience in conducting surveys. It will provide you with all the necessary tools, including survey questions to build your own market survey in order to measure local residents' utilization of, attitudes toward, and satisfaction with local hospital and health care services. Developed by Linda Powell, Mountain States Group.

Measuring Community Success and Sustainability Workbook
Measuring Community Success and Sustainability: An Interactive Workbook describes a process to help communities learn how to measure the local or regional impacts of economic and community development processes that enhance rural community sustainability.

Mississippi Department of Health Toolkit
This site provides health toolkits for cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mental health, nutrition, oral health, physical activity and tobacco cessation.

New Community Development Tool: Frameworks Institute Rural Learning Module
This site includes a number of different Rural Learning Modules including: Clarifying rural issues using a simplifying model; Rural speech to business or civic group; Framing in the field; and, Frequently asked questions about rural America.

Planning for the Future: A Handbook on Community Visioning
Helps communities to conduct community planning and community development. Includes a list of recommended readings and resources that can be used to help implement different parts of a community vision.

Principles of Community Engagement
CDC/ATSDR Committee on Community Engagement. This document provides public health professionals and community leaders with a science base and practical guidelines for engaging the public in community decision making and action for health promotion, health protection, and disease prevention.

Rural Development Strategies from the USDA
These strategies involve several basic components, including infrastructure improvement, business assistance, education and training, amenity-based development, and community development. Local-based strategies often draw on funding from Federal and State governments.

 

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