In 1995, the federal Office of Rural Health Policy awarded 3-year outreach demonstration grants to 25 projects to provide direct primary and preventive health care services to rural residents in 20 states. The grant program allows recipients to test innovative ideas against persistent problems of rural health care, such as provider shortages, fragmented delivery systems, and geographic isolation. Recipients must form a consortium of three or more local institutions or agencies to work together toward project goals. Overall, the projects addressed a broad range of rural health care needs. Over half focused on specific needs of mothers, infants, children, and adolescents. Rural minorities, including Hispanics, African Americans, and Native Americans, were the primary beneficiaries in nine projects, and eight projects addressed the needs of the elderly. Seven projects focused their activities in rural schools, which are convenient and effective sites for rural service delivery. Almost every project provided some type of health promotion/education programming for the public, and over half provided continuing education opportunities to health professionals. Three noteworthy programs developed a Nevada statewide network of community health nurses to provide health education to rural students and adults; taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to 10 percent of the population in the project's rural New York service area; and developed a one-stop referral system improving access to care for Grand Junction, Colorado, children aged birth to 18. Short descriptions of the 25 projects summarize activities and include innovative features, obstacles encountered, reasons for success, and contact information. (Contains title and subject indexes.) (SV)