Garen Evans

Chance McDavid

HealthConnect is a new Mississippi State University Extension program designed to help communities in their efforts to improve local healthcare. HealthConnect provides support to local community leaders, health administrators, and other decision makers to improve access and use of healthcare in rural communities. HealthConnect links communities to healthcare through: (1) analysis of demographic and economic trends emphasizing the importance of healthcare in the local economy; (2) an analysis of local healthcare spending; (3) an analysis of the impact of healthcare on the productivity of the local workforce; (4) surveys of health providers and households, tailored to each community; and (5) resource directories of community services for local residents. Armed with this information, needs and priorities are identified from the outcomes of community forums. Asset mapping and other methods of strategic planning are then used to formulate achievable goals that will improve access and use of healthcare.

HealthConnect first attracted the attention of the Mississippi Hospital Association. The result was a multi-year agreement to help the MHA serve the healthcare needs of Mississippi. This included a health survey of 400 households in Montgomery County, and an analysis of the importance of healthcare in Yazoo County.

HealthConnect also provided critical support to the EC HealthNet, a network of health professionals in four counties in East Central Mississippi. Key products included a survey of more than 1,600 households in East Central Mississippi, provider surveys, economic analyses of healthcare, community forums, and a health retreat that helped identify the future direction of the network.