Health

Access to comprehensive, affordable health care is vital to social and economic growth in the Appalachian Region. ARC's health projects focus on community-based efforts to encourage health-promotion and disease-prevention activities.

Strategies include:

• Using best practices in public health to develop targeted approaches to wellness and disease prevention;
• Supporting partnerships that educate children and families about basic health risks;
• Using telecommunications and other technology to reduce the high cost of health-care services; and
• Encouraging the development and expansion of health professional education services within the Region.

ARC health grants have helped provide equipment for hospitals and rural clinics, training for health care professionals, and support for community-based health education activities.

ARC also works with other organizations to address the high incidence of life-threatening diseases in the Region, as in its ongoing partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in diabetes and cancer education, prevention, and treatment programs in the Region's distressed counties.

Appalachian Health Policy Advisory Council
The Appalachian Health Policy Advisory Council (AHPAC) was formed in 1999 to advise the Commission on health issues and concerns in the Appalachian Region. Council members include state rural health directors, academics, local health care practitioners, and economic development officials. The council meets periodically to discuss current regional health issues and to advise the Commission on responses to emerging health problems. Past activities included a focus on the need for documentation of health disparities between the Region and the rest of the nation, which resulted in the Commission undertaking four major research studies on the issue.

AHPAC Meeting Summaries

September 2011 Healthy Families, Healthy Future Conference Materials and Presentations

Health Section Content