This project will evaluate the impact of the Flex program on local communities. Activities will focus on identifying the ways in which the program could have a measurable effect, as well as the ways in which Flex program coordinators intended to affect community health. In Year 2 of this project (2004-05), we will produce a briefing paper that integrates information on scope of services, networking, and quality. This information will be used to assess CAHs' efforts to add or revise services which enhance the health of the communities they serve, create new partnerships and networking relationships that will presumably result in better and more efficient care, make capital improvements or improve available medical technology, and improve patient care processes. In Year 2 we will also conduct case studies in six CAH communities. The purpose of these case studies is threefold:

• To serve as a mechanism for validating our conceptual framework of community impact.
• To investigate and describe places that are identified as good examples of Flex program activities that have focused on local communities, including details on the processes and outcomes of these activities.
• To help us identify additional dimensions of community impact that should be included in our Year 3 telephone survey, and potential future community impact activities.

There may be products related to this project; please contact the lead researcher for more information.