Comprehensive community initiatives: a rural perspective.

This article challenges the notion that the comprehensive community initiative (CCI) is a singularly urban intervention strategy by comparing a rural comprehensive initiative with the literature on urban CCIs. Characteristics of CCIs in urban settings are discussed and compared with Warren Family Institute (WFI), a demonstration project in rural North Carolina. Findings support the thesis that the CCI has been implemented and found effective in rural settings. The author presents a comparison of the common complications faced by urban CCIs with those encountered during the planning, implementation, and evaluation of WFI. Differences between these two CCIs were rooted in demographic, geographic, and sociohistoric distinctions between rural and urban settings. Substantial similarities were seen between rural and urban CCIs, which suggests the need to broaden the discussion on CCIs to include research on rural initiatives in the CCI literature.