The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #49819

Holly Felix, MPA, Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 5800 West 10th Street, Suite 410, Little Rock, AR 72204, 501-660-7553, Felixholly@uams.edu and Joy Shepherd, MPH, CHES, Delta Area Health Education Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, PO Box 729, Helena, AR 72342.

Many rural areas across the US suffer from a chronic shortage of primary care providers (PCPs) and seek to recruit them. Research shows that community-based planning is mandatory for successful recruitment efforts yet many communities lack the capacity to undertake such an effort. Through the Arkansas Southern Rural Access Program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement developed a process for local communities to assess their health care needs and implement a recruitment strategy to address their unmet health care needs. The process, laid out in a community toolkit handbook, includes forming a community group to lead the planning efforts, conducting a series of community needs assessments and resource mappings, developing a strategy for meeting any identified needs. The presentation will include a discussion of the development of the toolkit handbook and each of the steps in the recruitment process. The experience of a non-profit PCP recruiter in utilizing the process outlined in the toolkit handbook in a rural community in the Lower Mississippi River Delta region will be discussed extensively.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the prsentation, session participants will be able to

• List keys to sucessful recruitment and retention of PCPs;
• Describe a community-drive process of assessment and PCP recruitment; and,
• Access recruitment and retention resources

Keywords: Community Planning, Community Health Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, Arkansas Southern Rural Access Program, UNiversity of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and Robert Wood Johnson Foudnation
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.