About the Rural Health Equity Project

Supporting rural Lane County communities through community engagement and building capacity for addressing health inequities

Purpose 

  • Build capacity for addressing health disparities related to race, geography, and income in Lane County.​​
  • Support rural Lane County communities through community partnership and collaboration.
  • Center the voices and lived experiences of rural community members in decision-making.
  • Use information and relationships formed from the project to inform future community health investments and efforts - ultimately reducing health disparities in rural Lane County communities. 

Background

  • The 2017 Lane County Health Equity Report showed the many health disparities in Lane County - particularly among people of color 
    • 1 in 5 people in Lane County live in poverty
      • ​rates of poverty  among Black, Indigenous, and Latino/a/x individuals are almost double this 
    • Rural Community members, particularly those living in poverty and communities of color who have been historically marginalized against, experience worse health outcomes 
  • In response, the Board of Health made a request in June 2018 to gather community input on health equity and access based on disparities identified in 2017 Health Equity Report
  • In response to the Board of Health request, the Lane Equity coalition, a CHP/CHA equity workgroup, formed a subcommittee charged with making recommendations to advance health equity in Lane County ​
  • This subcommittee created the Rural Health Equity Project as part of this charge to support rural communities with addressing health inequities.​

Pilot Communities


- South Lane  - Cottage Grove 

- Upper Siuslaw River Region 
​(Mapleton, Deadwood, Swisshome)
Our Pilot Communities were selected based on their health and education data, feedback from rural community partners and equity advisors, and existing rural partnerships with these communities.

We hope to expand the project to other rural Lane county communities as part of the '21-25 Community Health Improvement Plan (CHP) once our pilot project is completed with these 2 communities. 

Project Outline

  • Phase 1: Strengthen rural partnerships
  • Phase 2: Seek community advice on how to best support health equity efforts
  •  Phase 3: Build capacity for local health equity efforts
  • Ongoing Exploration (throughout entire project): Seek to collaborate on current health equity efforts/projects 
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