WKU News

Western Kentucky University’s (WKU) Institute for Rural Health (IRH) gave a presentation to the Kentucky General Assembly’s Interim Joint Committee on Health Services on its work to improve healthcare access and outcomes in rural Kentucky.

Kim Link, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, Director of the WKU Institute for Rural Health and Associate Professor of Nursing in the WKU College of Health and Human Services (CHHS), was invited on behalf of Senator Steve Meredith, co-chair of the committee, to discuss specific initiatives that address healthcare challenges in Kentucky’s rural communities.

The presentation, “Community-Driven Solutions to Improve Rural Health in Kentucky,” highlighted how the IRH works alongside communities to strengthen local capacity through research expertise, partnership development, workforce preparation, program evaluation, and efforts to bring additional resources to Kentucky.

“Rural communities understand their own needs best, and our role is to help strengthen their ability to respond to those needs,” Dr. Link said. “By bringing together community knowledge, university expertise, and strong partnerships, we can develop solutions that have a lasting impact.”

During the presentation, Dr. Link highlighted examples of the Institute’s work, including:

• Community Health Assessment: Supporting the BRIGHT Coalition’s efforts to identify health priorities across the 10-county BRADD region.
• Oral Health: Partnering with the BRIGHT Coalition and Delta Dental Foundation to develop educational and multilingual resources for communities.
• Autism Workforce Development: Preparing healthcare students and professionals to better meet the needs of autistic individuals in rural Kentucky.
• Federal Rural Health Funding: Bringing partners together through a HRSA Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant focused on improving mental healthcare for autistic adults in rural Kentucky.

Although these initiatives address different health needs, they shared a common approach: working alongside rural communities to build the partnerships, workforce, and resources needed to improve health and healthcare. The Institute’s goal is to strengthen the work already underway in communities and help create improvements that can be sustained over time.

For more information about the WKU IRH, visit https://www.wku.edu/irh/