Health

Improving the health of Hoosiers

From increasing health care access in rural communities to reducing the impact of stigma on substance use disorder treatment, we connect the innovative and data-informed resources of Indiana University with local health and social service organizations throughout rural Indiana.

You can collaborate with us to address:

Substance use disorder
Nutrition and physical activity
Maternal and infant health

Tobacco use
Mental health
Chronic disease

Key initiatives

Community health improvement planning

These plans consider all dimensions of health, bringing the local agencies to the table, and respond to key questions that inform next steps and opportunities.

I-HOPE

The I-HOPE initiative is facilitating community-level conversations, resulting in strategies to address the factors that prevent people from living their healthiest lives.

Project spotlights

Designed in partnership with the IU Center for Rural Engagement, IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, and the IU School of Social Work, trauma-informed care education and certification is available online free of charge and includes continuing education units (CEUs).

Get started on your certification

In collaboration with Thrive Orange County, IU Health, and the Lawrence County Teen Pregnancy Coalition, we worked with the IU School of Public Health to produce a video series designed to explore strategies that have been successful in preventing teen pregnancy and supporting pregnant and parenting teens.

Learn more

Through a partnership with IU School of Social Work, rural Indiana residents seeking free and confidential support while managing stress, depression, or anxiety, or resources for food, clothing, housing, and healthcare have access to telehealth well-being services in six rural Indiana counties.

Learn more

The Daviess Advances Recovery Access Consortium, supported by the Center for Rural Engagement and School of Public Health-Bloomington, represents a commitment to work collectively to expand and strengthen recovery efforts through short-term activities and long-term planning. DARAC's work is rooted in active ongoing input from community residents in response to immediate and emerging substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery needs.

Connect with DARAC

Project map

Explore more projects connecting health initiatives to rural Indiana communities

Description of the video:

00;00;00;12 - 00;00;20;23
Laura Grove
I work at Pace Community Action Agency. I'm a client service specialist. Hoosierhelp.org has been, tremendous resource for us because everything's all in one place. That's just expanded everything that I do at my job. giving people when I'm talking to them, sometimes they don't even say they need other resources.

00;00;21;00 - 00;00;35;11
Wendy Bailey
I run our local, mobile food pantry when I'm out with the mobile food pantry, and I'm screening the participants or the people in need for, the mobile. I ask them if there's other things that they're needing besides insurance or food assistance.

00;00;35;13 - 00;01;02;16
Dr. Priscilla Barnes
Hoosierhelp was, I would say, developed from community health improvement planning discussions across many different counties. So each county looks at health from their own lens and the people that live in that space. But imagine several counties saying the same thing. Oh my gosh, where do we go to find resources to help people with basic needs? There are some people that need help finding food, housing, maybe education opportunities.

00;01;02;18 - 00;01;11;17
Dr. Priscilla Barnes
medical services. But when you don't know where to go, especially when you don't have a directory, what do we do? How can we work in a coordinated effort?

00;01;11;19 - 00;01;17;26
Wendy Bailey
I will send them to Hoosierhelp.org. Or they can come in and we can pull it up on the computer and show them how to navigate that page.

00;01;17;26 - 00;01;34;06
Laura Grove
Met a veteran that was really having a hard time. He lost his job. He, had his utilities turned off, in the process had lost all of his, things in his freezer. All these meat things like that.

00;01;34;06 - 00;01;47;09
Dr. Priscilla Barnes
When these organizations get together, market what they have together, it does help the consumer of Hoosierhelp make sure they get what they need, and they see their communities having this richness of resources they didn't know they had.

00;01;47;09 - 00;02;09;09
Laura Grove
We were able to give him a ride to Linton He could restock his refrigerator. And then we found out he was a veteran. On Hoosierhelp there's a lot of agencies that help veterans. So we were able to walk him through the website and show him those different veteran sites, and he was able to kind of get back on his feet just in a short period of time.

00;02;09;10 - 00;02;31;18
Wendy Bailey
I do do a lot with mental health. I'm a suicide survivor loss team leader, due to losing my brother by suicide. With Hoosierhelp.org I can pull up those mental health providers that are in their area or refer them to nine, eight, eight or to a local emergency room if it's needed. that they can go and find those resources as well to try to keep them with us.

00;02;31;25 - 00;02;42;14
Dr. Priscilla Barnes
I just love that co-learning, co-creating space that communities lead and we try our best to assist them in bringing out these wonderful things they want to do in their community.

00;02;42;14 - 00;02;48;20
Laura Grove
Working with the team at IU has been amazing. They, they helped us every step of the way.

00;02;48;23 - 00;03;03;02
Wendy Bailey
Using that resource of Hoosierhelp.org helps me to find the resources that are available because it's an updated portal. If I'm not able to, that patient can use it at home or at work or other, community partners can pull it up as well.

00;03;03;03 - 00;03;23;28
Laura Grove
Three things I love about Hoosierhelp is that one, you only need the zip code. Two, it's very easy to use. The tabs across the top are very distinct. And then three, all of the information you need is in that first paragraph. You know, right away if you qualify or not. And then you can get all of the information for that agency.

00;03;23;28 - 00;03;24;22
Laura Grove
And that has been phenomenal.

00;03;24;22 - 00;03;35;06
Dr. Priscilla Barnes
What I hope for the future, is that we keep bringing each organization to the table at a time, and we continue to maximize what we're offering in Hoosierhelp.

The IU School of Public Health-Bloomington and the Center for Rural Engagement are helping southern Indiana residents connect to the services they need to live healthier lives through HoosierHelp.org.

Visit HoosierHelp.org

Ending Stigma: A Webinar

Featured resource

Learn how to decrease and end stigma by increasing your knowledge and understanding about mental illness, substance use disorders, and stigma.

Watch the webinar

Indiana Uplands Community Health Needs Priorities Report

Featured resource

What are the top health priorities for communities in the Indiana Uplands? A content analysis was conducted of the most recent community needs assessments across 11 counties in the Indiana Uplands region.

Read the report