Collaborative Strategies for Rural Health and Economic Prosperity

As the Thrive Rural Framework makes clear, rural health and rural community and economic development are inextricably connected—neither field can be successful without the other. Thriving economies and communities require healthy people, and people need strong economic and health systems to thrive. Ideally, both fields are aligned and working together toward a common outcome: healthy places where each and every person belongs, lives with dignity, and thrives.In practice, however, it is all too common for stakeholders from health and rural development to work in silos, talk past each other, or even work against each other as they seek to implement their respective projects—mainly because their funding sources and operating structures do not encourage or reward collaboration across fields. Economic development projects may not consider the impact of industries on community health, for example. Health-focused projects may encourage target populations to adopt practices that aren’t feasible given economic conditions or simply respond to negative outcomes rather than the systemic root cause.