2025 | Track 2 | A Qualitative Study on the Integration of Holistic Healthcare Services in Small, Rural, Independent Schools
TRACK 2 SEED GRANT | Whole Health Consortium
A Qualitative Study on the Integration of Holistic Healthcare Services in Small, Rural, Independent Schools
TEAM:
- Katrina M. Powell — Alumni Distinguished Professor, Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies, Virginia Tech (Contact PI)
- Amy Price Azano — Director and Professor, Center for Rural Education, Virginia Tech
- Jenny Finn — Executive Director, Springhouse School
- Jim Werth — Chief Executive Director, Tri‑Area Community Health
- Ericca Facetti — Executive Director, School-Based Health Alliance of Virginia (SBHAVA)
Rural students often face limited access to healthcare—constraints that quickly become educational issues when unmet medical or behavioral needs affect attendance, learning, and well‑being. This Track II project brings together rural education leaders, healthcare partners, and advocacy experts to qualitatively investigate how holistic health services can be integrated into small, rural, independent schools, and to explore how public‑school school‑based health center (SBHC) models and independent‑school whole‑health approaches can inform each other.
Focusing first on Springhouse Community School (Floyd County, VA), the team will conduct environmental/observational assessments and in‑depth interviews with administrators, educators, students/families, and clinical stakeholders. Findings will be compared with practices at Tri‑Area Community Health (an FQHC partner) and with SBHC approaches facilitated by School-Based Health Alliance of Virginia in public schools to begin shaping adaptable models for on‑site and telehealth services that fit the culture and cadence of small independent schools. Deliverables include proof‑of‑concept data, early visual and written models of service delivery, and a sustainability framework (e.g., billing pathways and staffing) to guide larger external proposals.
By centering what matters for rural youth—health, learning, and community connection—the project advances Whole Health principles of prevention, equity, community partnership, and translational impact. With an emphasis on place‑based design and trusted relationships, this work aims to seed scalable practices that improve student and family well‑being across rural independent and public school contexts.