Areas of focus

The Center for Health Policy focuses particularly, but not exclusively, on three broad areas:

• Telementoring and workforce development
• Rural health
• Whole health.

Telementoring and workforce development

Telementoring is related to but distinct from telemedicine and telehealth and utilizes telecommunication technology to deliver training, education, and support that builds health care capacity. It is a mechanism to share best practices and increases the capacity of the health workforce by facilitating task shifting and skill acquisition. It is, additionally, a mechanism for community engagement, training and education. Telementoring models include webinars, podcasts, online curricula, individual consultations, Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) and adapted Community Health Clubs.

Rural health

Rural communities are diverse and resilient. Rural residents face challenges in access to health care including health care worker shortages, hospital closures, time and travel to access health care and geographic isolation. It should not be presumed that solutions and policies that work in urban settings are applicable for rural and remote settings. Similarly, there isn’t a “one fits all” solution applicable to all rural and remote communities.

 

Whole health

Whole health considers the whole person and does not focus on just a single disease or organ system. It recognizes that multiple factors inclusive of social, economic, environmental, policy and behavioral factors influence health. The Whole Health model delivers health care with this principle at the forefront. Furthermore, Whole Health empowers individuals, communities and populations to connect these multiple factors to improve, restore and maintain health.