A Rising Tide: Increasing Rural Local Health Department Capacity to Address the Social Determinants of Health

This NACCHO report explores the ways in which rural health departments are advancing their missions, focusing on partnerships, leadership, community engagement, data and evaluation, and Community Health Improvement Planning, and provides a rural context in the delivery of community health. The new era of Public Health 3.0 calls for local health departments to address not only the immediate health concerns of a community, but to strategically partner with other sectors to address the social determinants of health. Rural LHDs may face unique challenges leveraging resources to take on this new role, while also providing the traditional services of local public health. However, these rural communities may also have unique assets and strengths from which to draw, such as community connectivity and trusted “anchor” institutions like schools and organizations that are natural conveners of community members.