Research Brief
Introducing the Research Brief
The Kansas Center for Rural Research Committee is excited to launch this new Research Brief series to spotlight research happening with and within rural Kansas communities. Each issue will highlight projects that aim to improve the health, healthcare delivery, and equity in rural areas. Research Briefs will feature the voices of local providers, patients, and researchers, working together to solve real-world challenges. Our goal is to share what’s being learned, celebrate efforts of rural clinics and partners and spark ideas for future collaboration.
KU faculty, staff, and partners committed to advancing rural health may be eligible to become members of a Kansas Center for Rural Health Committee and collaborate to improve care in rural communities.
Communities Organizing to Promote Engagement (COPE)
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical gaps in public health systems’ ability to rapidly mobilize communities. In response, the COPE project, funded by the CDC through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), was launched as an academic–community partnership to develop local solutions to health disparities and build lasting community capacity for future public health emergencies. COPE is a network of Local Health Action Teams (LHATs) and community health workers (CHWs) in 20 primarily rural counties across four regions of Kansas (west, central, northeast, and southeast). Each LHAT unites community stakeholders, organizational leaders, service providers, and CHWs to identify priority health and social concerns, mobilize resources, and implement local solutions utilizing their $40,000 budgets. The most commonly prioritized needs addressed were: 1) community resources, education, and connection, 2) food access and nutrition, 3) dignity/hygiene initiatives, 4) childcare and youth development, 5) transportation, and 6) employment and financial literacy.
COPE Outcomes From June 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023
- 753 Individuals recruited as LHAT members
- 2,435 Partnerships established
- 1,520 Activities implemented
- 4,232 Clients reached by CHWs
- 9,634 of 11,065 (87%) client needs met
- 224,325 Kansans reached
Why these findings matter
The COPE Network demonstrates how CHWs supported coalitions with modest budgets can make significant impact and strengthen local capacity to reach underserved community members and address barriers to health care and social services. COPE established community-engagement infrastructure, data systems, and statewide learning collaboratives that can be adapted beyond the funding period and leveraged by other initiatives to improve the lives of Kansans.
Investigator Spotlight
Dr. Finocchario-Kessler is a KUMC professor and Director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Core of the Kansas Center for Implementation Science. She has led multiple NIH-funded studies using community engaged approaches to co-design pragmatic interventions that address health inequities. Christina Pacheco, JD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor and a community engagement specialist with extensive experience in community-based participatory research and coalition building. Together, they led the implementation of COPE, fostering lasting partnerships with community, clinical, and public health organizations across Kansas.
Have questions about this research? Reach out!