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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by State: California

Residential Proximity to Oil and Gas Development and Birth Outcomes in California: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 2006–2015 Births
Investigates relationship between residential proximity to oil and gas development (OGD) and adverse birth outcomes. Explores data of 2.9 million births to mothers living within 10km of OGD in rural areas and the relationship to low birth weight, preterm birth, and small for gestational age birth. Includes rural versus urban comparisons.
Author(s): Kathy V. Tran, Joan A. Casey, Lara J. Cushing, Rachel Morello-Frosch
Citation: Environmental Health Perspectives, 128(6)
Date: 06/2020
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Home on the Range: Plans and Providers Team Up to Bring Palliative Care to Rural Californians
Report discussing challenges and solutions to expanding palliative care access in rural California. Addresses barriers related to enrollment, staffing, and sustainability as well as strategies for creating partnerships between communities, healthcare systems, human services organizations, and other rural groups. Appendix features a chart listing health plans and rural providers offering palliative care services, with descriptions for each.
Author(s): Kathleen Kerr, Monique Parrish, Lyn Ceronsky
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: California Health Care Foundation
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Four Stages of Planning and Implementation During COVID-19: One Rural Hospital's Preparations
Highlights a rural California hospital's four stage plan in preparing for a potential patient surge related to the COVID-19 pandemic and addresses actions achieved to ensure quality in the current care and treatment of patients. Discusses the steps taken to provide care through community outreach and to maintain financial support.
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Getting in Front of COVID-19: Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Save the Lives of Seniors
Presents an overview of Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District's (SoHum Health) efforts to proactively meet the needs of seniors sheltered-in-place due to COVID-19. Describes how SoHum Health has repurposed facilities and staff, and partners with local Humboldt County, California, organizations, to determine the needs of local seniors and make deliveries of groceries and medications. Discusses contingency plans in the event of a COVID-19 surge.
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Maternal Mortality: Trends in Pregnancy-Related Deaths and Federal Efforts to Reduce Them
Examines trends in pregnancy-related deaths between 2007 and 2016, Analyzes data by cause of death and patient demographic characteristics. Appendix III lists ongoing Department of Health and Human Services funding opportunities to address maternal mortality, including the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program. Appendix V provides an overview of efforts to reduce maternal mortality in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, and Texas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Interim Evaluation of California's Public Hospital Redesign and Incentives in Medi‐Cal (PRIME) Program
Reports on California's Public Hospital Redesign and Incentives in Medi-Cal Program (PRIME), approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to modify Medicaid programs and implement innovative delivery reforms. PRIME uses evidence-based quality improvement methods that require hospitals to establish performance baselines, institute targets for improvement, and evaluate the success of quality improvement interventions on an ongoing basis. The analysis of the program included 52 designated public hospitals and district/municipal hospitals, with 17 of the latter being Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Author(s): Nadereh Pourat, Xiao Chen, Ana E. Martinez, et al.
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organizations: California Department of Health Care Services, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
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The Exchange Feature Issue: Preparing for and Responding to Wildfires and Planned Outages
Newsletter issue focusing on lessons learned by medical facilities and communities in Colorado and California during the wildfires of 2017 and 2019. Covers information useful for rural hospital emergency managers and administration, including mass sheltering, hospital evacuation, managing stress and compassion fatigue among workers, and community recovery.
Citation: Issue 10
Date: 03/2020
Sponsoring organization: Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response
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Native American Youth Citizen Scientists Uncovering Community Health and Food Security Priorities
Details a study on food security and nutrition via community-based participatory research by a group of 13-18 year olds in the Karuk Tribe in rural northern California. Explores findings related to community gardens, school food quality, and food gathering and preservation, among other issues.
Author(s): Katherine K. Kim, Victoria Ngo, Grant Gilkison, et al.
Citation: Health Promotion Practice, 21(1), 80-90
Date: 01/2020
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Recognizing and Sustaining the Value of Community Health Workers and Promotores
Discusses the ways in which community health workers and promotores (CHW/Ps) contribute to the healthcare system, with a focus on California. Gives examples of the ways in which CHW/Ps in rural areas can alleviate workforce shortages, strengthen patient engagement with the healthcare system, and act as liaisons to social structures, including churches and Native American tribal organizations.
Author(s): Jim Lloyd, Kathy Moses, Rachel Davis
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Border Health Status Report of the 44 U.S. Counties at the U.S.- Mexico Border
A review of selected 20 topic health indicators using public use data obtained from 44 counties, mostly rural, located along the U.S.-Mexico border region and within the states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. Offers health indicator data for selected measurable objectives having baseline data on overall mortality, and mortality rates for diabetes, heart disease, cervical cancer, breast cancer, unintentional injuries, and road traffic-related. Health indicator data is also provided for non-measurable objectives, due to a lack of baseline data, on asthma, maternal mortality, gonorrhea, and congenital syphilis.
Author(s): Nicole Baker, Nicole Baker, Juan Albertorio, Alfonso Rodríguez-Lainz
Date: 2020
Sponsoring organization: United States-México Border Health Commission
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