{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T07:16:25Z","timestamp":1788419785058,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788393600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In decentralized public health systems, rural public health departments have fewer economic resources and higher needs for public health programs and services. This case study describes the evolution of a rural district health department\u2019s community and academic partnerships across three phases. Throughout this process, partnerships grounded in community engagement informed the local public health workforce, translated research into practice, and supported the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions in a rural setting.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our approach is guided by three established models\u2014a logic model for evaluating academic health departments (AHD), staged process model of AHD development, and a model of organizational change strategies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Over a decade of building a rural AHD has resulted in more than $22 million in grant funding, an increase in implemented evidence-based interventions, improved workforce capacity, and expanded formal collaborations with faculty at academic institutions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A mutually shared value of community health improvement and support with a consistent focus on community voice and community health priorities are the threads of success for this rural academic health department model in north-central North Carolina.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1893009","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T06:43:09Z","timestamp":1788417789000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A community-focused rural academic health department model in North Carolina: elevating community engagement, rural public health practice and research"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Carmen D.","family":"Samuel-Hodge","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Center for Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","place":["Chapel Hill, NC, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lisa Macon","family":"Harrison","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Granville Vance Public Health","place":["Oxford, NC, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wendy","family":"Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Granville Vance Public Health","place":["Henderson, NC, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Karl T.","family":"Johnson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"UNC-CH Gillings, Department of Public Health Leadership and Practice, Gillings School of Global Public Health","place":["Chapel Hill, NC, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Granville Vance Public Health","place":["Henderson, NC, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Devon","family":"Noonan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Duke University","place":["Durham, NC, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1283","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.2020.305728","article-title":"The state of rural public health: enduring needs in a new decade","volume":"110","author":"Leider","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am J Public Health"},{"key":"ref2","author":"Orgera","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.ss7302a1","article-title":"Preventable 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