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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by State: North Carolina

Rural Healthcare Partnerships Toolkit: How North Carolina's Rural-Serving Community Colleges Leverage Partnerships to Meet Healthcare Workforce Needs
Toolkit highlighting partnerships between higher education, K-12 schools, healthcare employers, community-based organizations, and government agencies across the state of North Carolina to address rural healthcare workforce shortages in the state. Discusses opportunities for strengthening the healthcare workforce pipeline as well as reducing barriers to entering the pipeline through degree completion.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Postsecondary Practices Partnership
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Rural Maternity Innovation Summit Reports
Findings from a March 2024 Clifton, Texas summit that brought together leaders from six innovative and sustainable rural maternity programs. The site report provides case studies, sharing information on maternity services, staffing, financial strategies, and more. The leader report shares strategies and identifies leadership competencies, values, and character traits that support the leaders' abilities to meet the challenges in providing sustainable rural maternity services in rural communities.
Author(s): Erin E. Sullivan, Benjamin Anderson, Mark Deutchman
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: University of Colorado School of Medicine Rural Program
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Healthy Places NC: 10 Years That Changed the Way We Work
Reports on 10 years of activities by Healthy Places NC, an initiative focused on health improvement in North Carolina's rural and underserved communities. Discusses planning and implementation, challenges, lessons, case studies, network development and collaboration, and more. Describes the importance of addressing racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities and achieving health equity.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Video: 10 Years of Healthy Places NC
Author(s): Kristen Burwell Naney, Douglas Easterling, Tanya Beer, Mina Silberberg
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust
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Bridging the Gap: INVESTing in HPV Vaccination for Rural Youth
Describes the INVEST (INcreasing VaccinE uptake among Southern Teens) human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine promotion program for rural youth in North Carolina and South Carolina. Discusses program implementation through school nurses and educational materials focused on vaccination and other aspects of adolescent health and wellness.
Author(s): Sayward E. Harrison
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
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Rural and Nonrural Racial Variation in Mentally Unhealthy Days: Findings from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in North Carolina, 2015–2019
Compares rates at which rural and nonrural Black and White North Carolinians experience days with stress, depression, and problems with emotions, utilizing 2015-2019 North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data. Discusses social factors which may influence racial mental health disparities in rural areas.
Author(s): Caroline R. Efird, Derrick D. Matthews, Kathryn E. Muessig, et al.
Citation: SSM - Mental Health, 3, 100199
Date: 12/2023
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Leading State Approaches and Communication Strategies to Support Health Equity
Describes how state and territory leaders have created effective health equity practices and communication strategies. Outlines three themes that emerged through research and roundtable discussions as top health equity priorities for states. Profiles initiatives and policies from nine states and Guam to address health equity and reflect these themes.
Date: 12/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Governors Association
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Follicular DNA Damage and Pesticide Exposure Among Latinx Children in Rural and Urban Communities
Examines DNA double-strand breaks as an aspect of pesticide exposure among 30 Latinx children from rural, farmworker families and 15 children from urban, non-farmworker families in North Carolina, utilizing a minimally-invasive data collection method utilizing hair follicle samples and silicon wristbands. Provides data on rural-urban disparities in pesticide exposure, outside play, and use of sun protection among study participants, with additional data on seasonal variation.
Author(s): Cassandra Lepetit, Mohamed Gaber, Ke Zhou, et al.
Citation: Exposure and Health, 16, 1039-1052
Date: 11/2023
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Cumulative Environmental Quality Is Associated with Breast Cancer Incidence Differentially by Summary Stage and Urbanicity
Identifies associations between environmental factors and breast cancer stages in North Carolina using the Environmental Quality Index (EQI). EQI factors include air, water, land, sociodemographic, and built environments. Includes analysis of urbanicity, race, screenings, and tobacco use.
Author(s): Larisa M. Gearhart-Serna, Brittany A. Mills, Hillary Hsu, et al.
Citation: Scientific Reports, 13, 20301
Date: 11/2023
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Rural Health and Well-Being
A two-part recorded webinar that first discusses social well-being in rural areas and suggested policy and programmatic interventions to improve well-being. Also provides information on the community-based participatory research Health Equity for Rural Mothers and Families Project (HER), which advocates for health equity for pregnant women and new mothers in rural North Carolina.
Additional links: Part 1 Slides, Part 2 Slides
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith, Sarah E. (Betsy) Bledsoe
Date: 11/2023
Sponsoring organization: North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
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Recent Incarceration, Substance Use, Overdose, and Service Use Among People Who Use Drugs in Rural Communities
Compares 2,935 people who use drugs (PWUD) in rural areas of 10 states to evaluate the impact of time since last incarceration on access to treatment and overdose rates. Discusses policy measures that could increase access to and successful completion of treatment for substance use disorders.
Author(s): Daniel B. Hoover, Todd Korthuis, Elizabeth Needham Waddell, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(11), 2342222
Date: 11/2023
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