A Conceptual Sustainability Strategy for a Rurally-Based Community Health Promotion Initiative

Abstract

Sustaining grant-funded rural community health promotion initiatives following expiration of active funding cycles is usually challenging. Rural communities are described as periphery to cities and somewhat isolated with all larger communities located more than 30 miles away and are perceived as lacking in essential resources that create and nurture businesses [1,2]. Statistics show that rural residents are comparatively poorer than urban and metropolitan residents. For instance in 2005, 17% of rural residents lived below poverty line whereas in metropolitan areas it was 13% [3]. Furthermore, as funding sources and grant making agencies limit, restrict, prioritize, and restructure funding because of current national economic downturn, it is imperative that rurally-based community healthcare promotion projects become familiar with a locally-dependent strategy that fosters sustenance of life-saving community health initiatives.