ABSTRACT
Rural communities have unique histories, populations, assets, and evaluation needs. In the United States, the federal government uses unique definitions of rural to allocate funding, develop policy, and determine eligibility for special grant programs. There are three federal government programs that have established their own rural definition: the United States Census Bureau, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). Recognizing the need to expand dichotomous population views of urban and rural, Harold Goldsmith and colleagues developed a method to more equitably distribute resources and maintain health services in rural communities. Rural evaluators use a variety of methods to evaluate programs, interventions, services, and policies. Rural communities may have different values and paradigms than evaluators. Indigenous Focused Evaluation was developed by Indigenous peoples, with the goal of focusing on the culture of Indigenous people and their values, history, and postcolonial experience in the United States.
