{"id":77099,"date":"2026-02-25T08:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=77099"},"modified":"2026-02-25T08:06:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:06:37","slug":"health-at-a-community-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/health-at-a-community-level\/","title":{"rendered":"How NAU is addressing health at a community level"},"content":{"rendered":"

A grant from\u00a0a regional\u00a0<\/span>First Things First<\/span><\/a>\u00a0program\u00a0aims to streamline how families with young children receive help in\u00a0the Coconino region.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kelly<\/a>
Photo credit: Doreen Holtje<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Research scientists\u00a0<\/span>Kelly Nation<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Mark Remiker<\/span><\/b>\u00a0at the Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER)\u00a0are\u00a0co-principal investigators on a project\u00a0focusing on four towns\u2014Williams, Fredonia,\u00a0Page\u00a0and Winslow\u2014and their adoption and use of the\u00a0<\/span>CommunityCares\u00a0portal<\/span><\/a>. This statewide system integrates healthcare organizations (HCOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) like food banks, housing\u00a0service, mental health\u00a0resources\u00a0and more.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The overall aim of both Community Cares and this research project is to help children and their families be healthier and\u00a0happier.\u00a0The focus is on\u00a0rural areas\u00a0because they\u00a0often face significant challenges with coordination across early childhood service providers, which can lead to unmet health needs, unidentified developmental\u00a0delays\u00a0and gaps in family support services.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to health-related social needs\u2014like food, shelter, education, employment and childcare\u2014 are essential to our physical, mental and social health,\u201d\u00a0Nation\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cHaving our baseline needs met is important because when we\u00a0don\u2019t, we\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have as much health resilience.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0important from the public health perspective to be able to address those\u00a0non-medical needs.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This project, which began over the summer with\u00a0information-gathering, is new, but it\u00a0is\u00a0replicating\u00a0work that Nation and Remiker have done in\u00a0the\u00a0Yavapai\u00a0region\u00a0in the last several years. That group is looking at the collective impact of Community Cares throughout the county and how organizations can more fully\u00a0integrate\u00a0this tool.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Addressing social determinants of health<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Health is\u00a0complicated,\u00a0multifaceted\u00a0and often messy. A person\u2019s health is\u00a0determined\u00a0in part by what we think of as health factors: genetics, behavior, access to\u00a0healthcare\u00a0and medication. But the large majority\u00a0is\u00a0related to\u00a0those\u00a0social determinants\u00a0of health\u00a0Nation mentioned: housing, food security, economic stability, a social network, social prejudice, education.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This means healthcare providers\u00a0should\u00a0have\u00a0a vested interest\u00a0in helping their patients address these needs as well.\u00a0If a patient is seeing a doctor for an acute illness or a\u00a0checkup, we want doctors and nurses asking about these other factors and helping those needs to be met as well.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone comes in and says they\u2019re food insecure, we want to make sure that they\u2019re connected to somebody who can provide them with food, or housing or any other health-related social need,\u201d Remiker said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, clinic staff can pick up the phone and call a food bank. But when the patient leaves,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0hard to track whether they received the services, unless staff ask the patient directly.\u00a0\u00a0But with\u00a0CommunityCares, a healthcare provider can make a referral to the food bank, and the food bank can mark it as complete when the client comes in. The loop is closed, the need is met, and\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a record that can be followed up on if needed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This can also be a helpful tool for public health surveillance. Researchers and healthcare providers can use that data to figure out the greatest needs in a community, where local resources are falling short and what\u2019s hindering families from accessing these resources.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing what health-related social needs are common in our community and whether those needs are being met can inform community leaders on where to allocate funding,\u201d Remiker said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the long term, healthier families may also lead to better overall health and wellbeing, including fewer visits to the emergency department, fewer missed school days for\u00a0children\u00a0and increased economic prosperity for families and the community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Coordinating care between healthcare providers and community-based organizations allows us to move beyond isolated services and toward a more connected, responsive system of support,\u201d said\u00a0Pearl Vasquez Santillan, Coconino\u00a0regional\u00a0specialist\u00a0for\u00a0First Things\u00a0First.\u00a0\u201cCommunity\u00a0Cares creates a bridge that helps families access resources through trusted relationships while giving partners a clearer picture of community needs. This kind of coordinated approach strengthens collaboration, reduces gaps in\u00a0care\u00a0and brings us closer to a system that truly reflects and supports the wellbeing of the people it\u00a0serves.”\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first stages of this research<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Remiker and Nation are starting with conversations with healthcare organizations and community-based organizations. In Yavapai County,\u00a0that has meant both meeting with individuals and eventually bringing all the parties together into the same room to discuss the benefits.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What they found in Yavapai was a lack of familiarity with Community Cares and a fear that this is one more task an already stretched workforce will have to do. The researchers focused on the benefits not just to the community but to the organizations;\u00a0the\u00a0portal\u00a0will\u00a0make the referral process less complicated\u00a0and, once\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0implemented,\u00a0it\u2019ll\u00a0be less work to provide referrals.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Group<\/a>
Photo credit: Doreen Holtje<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They\u2019re\u00a0also working with other community partners who use Community Cares and can talk\u00a0up\u00a0the advantages\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0experienced. Even though the work is in its infancy in Coconino County, Remiker and Nation are seeing the same patterns\u2014lack of awareness, cautious excitement, hesitance.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0beauty and\u00a0challenge of\u00a0system change work is that it\u2019s at the speed of relationships,\u201d\u00a0she\u00a0said. \u201cWe\u00a0have to\u00a0slow down, learn why people are hesitant to use it, why they might be excited and bring people to the table and talk about it. We\u00a0have to\u00a0follow their pace.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019re\u00a0both optimistic about what\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0seeing in Coconino County and excited as the project moves forward. This project\u2019s focus on public health in the short and long term is a key piece of CHER\u2019s mission.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0also encouraging to do this work so close to home.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting\u00a0to do\u00a0work for the community in which we live,\u201d Nation said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

Heidi Toth | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-8737 | heidi.toth@nau.edu<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A grant from\u00a0a regional\u00a0First Things First\u00a0program\u00a0aims to streamline how families with young children receive help in\u00a0the Coconino region.\u00a0\u00a0 Research scientists\u00a0Kelly Nation\u00a0and\u00a0Mark Remiker\u00a0at the Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER)\u00a0are\u00a0co-principal investigators on a project\u00a0focusing on four towns\u2014Williams, Fredonia,\u00a0Page\u00a0and Winslow\u2014and their adoption and use of the\u00a0CommunityCares\u00a0portal. This statewide system integrates healthcare organizations (HCOs) and community-based…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":77100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}