Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida
Center for Rural Health Research & Policy

The Center is committed to the development of educational tools and programs designed to help address the health care needs of rural Florida. Since its inception the Center has

1. Sponsored a statewide Rural Health Policy Summit (2004), to educate policy makers, providers, and consumers on the special challenges and opportunities facing rural Florida.
    
2. Conducted an assessment of information technology in rural hospitals (2003) that formed the basis for the implementation of a demonstration project that used mobile IT in a rural hospital.
    
3. Conducted an assessment of bioterrorism training needs of Community Health Centers (2004) in Florida, many of which are in rural communities, that led to the development and delivery of training programs for administrative, clinical, and non-clinical staff.
    
4. Conducted a series of five Town Hall meetings (2009) across the state to solicit input from rural providers and consumers into the Rural Health Plan Update for the Florida Office of Rural Health. The meetings sought to validate the findings of key informants, as well as identify region specific issues and concerns. The report was shared with the Florida Office of Rural Health, the sponsors of each of the 5 Town Hall and the participants. Read the full report. [pdf]
    
5. Partnered with the FSU AHEC Program on health literacy projects to both raise the awareness of FSU students (medical students, public health) about health literacy and target vulnerable populations with important health information.

 
• Mentored first year medical students in the development of low literacy smoking cessation materials that were field tested in a rural community, a homeless shelter and a domestic violence shelter. The brochure and wallet card have been distributed through the Florida AHEC Network.
   
• Developed a foto-novela (picture book), Mario Decides to Quit, targeting male Hispanics ages 19-24, with culturally appropriate messages. The foto-novela and an accompanying instructor manual were developed for use in adult literacy programs. The materials are available free on the FSU AHEC website, on the Florida Literacy Coalition website, and on the Florida Association of Community Health Centers website