Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The National Grange: A Rural Community Resource to Increase the Reach of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the United States

  • Review
  • Published:
Journal of Community Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Our objectives were to review the Grange as a rural community organization with the potential to increase the reach of public health efforts. We examined seven years of Grange member newsletters and publications for content pieces that reflected a public health focus and organized our findings according to the Healthy People 2020 five determinant areas within the Social Determinants of Health. Results: We found ample evidence of overlap between the goal and objectives of public health and those of the Grange. The Grange currently operates programs of education or participation in all five of the determinant areas: (1) Health and Health Care Access; (2) Social and Community Context; (3) Education; (4) Economic Stability; and (5) the Neighborhood and the Built Environment. The Grange is a grass roots rural organization that is uniquely positioned to offer a rich and nuanced partnership with public health agencies. The Grange has been contributing towards rural health for over 150 years, but despite this predisposition to the mission of public health, the Grange remains an underused community resource capable of improving rural health and addressing a variety of rural public health issues.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hartley, D. (2004). Rural health disparities: Population health, and rural culture. American Journal of Public Health, 94(10), 1675–1678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Henning-Smith, C. E., Moscovice, I. S., & Kozhimannil, K. B. (2019). Differences in social isolation and its relationship to health by rurality. The Journal of Rural Health, 34(4), 540–549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Long, A. S., Hanlon, A. L., & Pellegrin, K. L. (2018). Socioeconomic variables explain rural disparities in US mortality rates: Implications for rural health research and policy. SSM - Population Health, 6, 72–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Strategic Goal 2 protect the health of Americans where they live, learn, work and play. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/about/strategic-plan/strategic-goal-2/index.html

  5. Finneran, H. T. (1964). Records of the National Grange in its Washington office. The American Archivist, 27(1), 103–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Barns, W. D. (1967). Oliver Hudson Kelley and the genesis of the Grange: A reappraisal. Agricultural History., 41(3), 229–242.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lauzon, G. P. (2012). Indefinite foundings and awkward transitions. The American Educational Research Journal, 39(1), 231–249.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Nordin, D. S. (1970). A revisionist interpretation of the patrons of husbandry, 1867–1900. Historian, 32(4), 630–643.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Wilson, P. L. (2006). Grange appeal. Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, 17(3), 24–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Brofrenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32(7), 513–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. McLeroy, K. R., Norton, B. L., Kegler, M. C., Burdine, J. N., & Sumaya, C. V. (2003). Community-based interventions. American Journal of Public Health, 93(4), 529–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Dankwa-Mullan, I., & Perez-Stable, E. J. (2016). Addressing health disparities is a place-based issue. American Journal of Public Health, 106(4), 637–639.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. O’Brien, K. K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Baxter, L., Tricco, A. C., Straus, S., et al. (2016). Advancing scoping study methodology: A web-based survey and consultation of perception on terminology, definition and methodological steps. BMC Health Services Research, 16(305), 2–12.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funded by the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA 98105 USA.

Funding

Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA 98105 USA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97330, USA

    Lilly L. Anderson & Veronica L. Irvin

  2. Oregon State Grange, Salem, OR, 97301, USA

    Susan Noah & Jay Sexton

Authors
  1. Lilly L. Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Veronica L. Irvin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Susan Noah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jay Sexton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lilly L. Anderson.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

We declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Anderson, L.L., Irvin, V.L., Noah, S. et al. The National Grange: A Rural Community Resource to Increase the Reach of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the United States. J Community Health 45, 1081–1088 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00819-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00819-7

Search

Navigation