Human Services to Support Rural Health
Human Services to Support Rural Health
Human services play an important role in ensuring that rural residents and families have resources to maintain or improve their own health. The availability of safe and affordable housing, income supports, food assistance, job training, childcare support, and other services help low-income rural residents take care of themselves so they can stay healthy.
When faced with health challenges, people whose basic needs are met are better able to concentrate on recovery and take steps to avoid future problems. Some rural hospitals even employ their own social services staff, in an effort to provide patients with needed services that may help them avoid readmission.
By implementing population health strategies and addressing the social determinants of health (SDOH) through the provision of human services, communities may be able to reduce healthcare costs and develop a more efficient healthcare system. Focusing on preventive care and ensuring that patients who use the healthcare system frequently, such as those with chronic conditions, have their basic needs met may lessen the stressors that contribute to their chronic conditions, decrease the amount of healthcare resources they require, and reduce hospital readmissions.
See Social Determinants of Health for Rural People for more information on how SDOH can impact health.
Rural healthcare providers and facilities can help patients find services to meet their basic needs by recommending benefit programs, providing referrals, or coordinating services with human services providers. Likewise, rural human services providers may find that working with healthcare providers is an effective way to identify unaddressed needs. Connecting human services to healthcare can help make limited resources go further and leverage the close-knit nature of rural communities.
This guide focuses on human services that affect healthcare, including:
- Income supports like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC)
- Weatherization and energy assistance
- Housing supports
- Job training and placement
- Childcare assistance
- Child welfare programs
- Home visitation programs for parents and children
Access to healthy food and transportation also impacts health. These issues are covered separately in our other topic guides:
