Rural Health Data Ecosystems (RHeDE)
What is RHeDE?
What is RHeDE?
The Rural Health Data Ecosystems (RHeDE) program, which started and ended in 2025, explored how rural communities share health information at the local level.
Awardees consisted of six pairs of organizations, each pair composed of a state or regional health data leader (“champion organization”) and a community-based organization (“community awardee“) located in the same region.
During the award, champion organizations served as program advisors while community awardees worked to map their community data ecosystem.
The Program Design
Champions and Awardees
The objective of the RHeDE program was to better understand what rural health collaborations are currently doing to advance health in their communities using data.
DASH selected a total of six champion organizations based on the strength of their community connections to potential community awardees, co-design capacity, and insight into their regional data ecosystem. DASH then worked with these champion organizations to select six community awardees (one per champion).
The awardees received $30,000 each in funding support.
Ecosystem Mapping
As part of their exploration around narrative and relationships, awardees worked through a mapping exercise where they created visuals demonstrating the components of their community data ecosystem. Through this activity, grantees developed new insights and perceptions by visualizing the relationships and networks affecting their communities or regions.
WHat are data ecosystems?
A data ecosystem is made up of the what, the who, and the how that shape information sharing within the landscape. A community’s data ecosystem map makes visible how information is collected and shared to support community health and well-being.
It also helps visualize how community voice is centered, how local strengths are leveraged, and how shared values guide information pathways and build community narratives. The act of mapping makes assets and resources more visible.
Case Study Interviews
To wrap up the program, DASH and each champion organization co-led individual interviews with community awardees. The interviews were co-designed by the champion organizations and DASH staff with the goal of deeply understanding the community awardees' organizations, data ecosystem maps, and perceptions around cultural narratives that affect their work.
Awardees
CommuniHealth ServiceS, Bastrop, LA
Champion: Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI)
CommuniHealth is a private, nonprofit community health center in Louisiana that provides medical, dental, and behavioral health care services for patients of all ages. CommuniHealth is a member of the PelEX health information exchange. Through the RHeDE program, CommuniHealth continued to collaborate with diverse partners and leverage data-sharing to better align value-based care and quality improvement data systems.
Heart Mountain Free Clinic (HMFC), Cody, WY
Champion: Wyoming 211
Heart Mountain Free Clinic (HMFC) provides affordable healthcare, wellness programs, and compassionate care to uninsured, underinsured, and low-income residents in Park County, Wyoming. HMFC’s work aims to consider the whole person while connecting families to resources in a way that goes beyond handing over a brochure or phone number. Community funds pull community members out of crisis while HMFC provides wraparound services to ensure the family is cared for.
RISE Cowley County, Winfield, KS
Champion: KFMC
RISE Cowley County promotes healthy lifestyles by collaborating to raise awareness and encourage involvement for residents of Cowley County, Kansas. With RHeDE, RISE Cowley hoped to gain clarity and grow their data-driven decision-making. They worked to gain a deeper understanding of their community and how to engage in collective impact work in rural Kansas.
Unite RABUN, Rabun County, GA
Champion: HI-BRIDGE Solutions
Unite RABUN in Rabun County, Georgia, empowers individuals and families affected by substance use disorder and mental health challenges by providing peer-driven recovery resources, fostering a sense of community, and advocating for equitable access to recovery resources. With the RHeDE award, Unite RABUN worked to sustain and expand critical services facilitated by existing operational infrastructure, including data systems, reporting protocols, peer support documentation, and engagement frameworks.
West Marion, Inc., Marion, NC
Champion: WNC Health Network
West Marion, Inc’s mission is to enhance quality of life and overcome racial barriers by building bridges in McDowell County, NC. They do this by showing compassion, advocating for policy and systems change, promoting economic development, sharing resources, empowering youth, and ensuring that voices often left out of decision-making are heard and valued. Using RHeDE support, they continued to gather stories and experiences directly from residents while also examining statistical trends to build a more accurate picture of community needs.
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Health and Human Services, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, TX
Champion: PHIX
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is one of three federally recognized Native American tribes and the only Pueblo in the State of Texas. YDSP’s Department of Health and Human Services offers health services and healthcare in an atmosphere of respect, dignity, and cultural sensitivity. Their healthcare team is devoted to promoting wellness and improving the quality of life and the overall well-being of the Tigua Community through wraparound and comprehensive services.