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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Health Value and Belief Differences Among Rural Americans
Results of a study to better understand how Americans differ in their beliefs about health at individual, community, and societal levels. Appendix features survey question responses with breakdowns by rural and urban residence.
Additional links: American Health Values Survey: Rural Typology
Author(s): Larry L. Bye, Alyssa Ghirardelli, Angela Fontes, Mike Meit, Kristin Dwan
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Opioid Addiction: Meeting the Need for Treatment in Michigan
Analyzes survey data from village, township, city, and county leaders throughout Michigan to identify drug treatment needs across the state. Discusses access issues related to treatment programs that are particularly present in rural areas and information on providing local treatment programs. Offers policy implications and recommendations to improve treatment options.
Author(s): Amy Bohnert, Jennifer Erb-Downward, Thomas Ivacko
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan
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American Farm Bureau Federation Rural Stress Polling Presentation
Summarizes the results of a survey of rural adults, farmers, and farmworkers regarding mental health. Includes statistics and data describing access to mental health resources, mental health concerns for farmers, ways to reduce stigma, general impressions of mental health, and more.
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: American Farm Bureau Federation, Morning Consult
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Rural Health Research Recap: Rural Obstetric Services: Access, Workforce, and Impact
Summarizes recent research by Rural Health Research Centers on access to obstetrics (OB) care in rural areas, the rural OB workforce, and the impact of limited OB access for rural counties. Includes a map showing hospital OB services in rural counties, where they have closed from 2004-2014, and a chart with the percent of clinicians by type attending deliveries in rural hospitals.
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Rural Health Research Recap: State of Rural Women's Healthcare Utilization and Health Indicators
Summarizes rural and urban statistics describing health indicators and healthcare utilization for women, maternal and obstetric healthcare services, and maternal substance use. Includes information regarding barriers to accessing care.
Author(s): Shawnda Schroeder
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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An Evaluation Report: Senior Food-Assistance, Related Programming, and Seniors' Experiences Across the Feeding America Network
Discusses characteristics of 17 food bank programs in rural and urban areas of 9 states, through interviews, observations, and document reviews. Examines challenges faced by food-insecure rural seniors and profiles food-assistance programs in rural areas of Montana, Alabama, and Minnesota.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Edward A. Frongillo, Andrea M. Warren
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Feeding America
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2018 Transportation Trends
Identifies issues affecting the availability of accessible transportation for older adults and people with disabilities. Includes examples of programs underway in rural and frontier areas to address transportation needs.
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Aging and Disability Transportation Center
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Veterans Health Care: VA Needs to Address Challenges as It Implements the Veterans Community Care Program
Examines challenges and lessons learned from the former Veterans Choice Program in order to help the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) implement the new Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP), which allows veterans to seek healthcare services from non-VA facilities in certain situations. Addresses the proposed access standards for the VCCP program. Offered as testimony at the April 10, 2019 U.S. Senate hearing, VA MISSION Act: Implementing the Veterans Community Care Program.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Broadband Mapping: Challenges and Solutions
Recording of a hearing from the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation focusing on efforts to collect more accurate broadband coverage information. Includes testimonies from the U.S. Telecom Association, Competitive Carriers Association, Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, and others regarding current mapping challenges and the importance of broadband access for rural communities, including for healthcare services.
Additional links: Jonathan Spalter Testimony, Mike McCormick Testimony, Mike Oblizalo Testimony, Tim Donovan Testimony
Date: 04/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senate
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Oral Health: Targeting Rural Areas
Compiles articles from a special issue of the Texas Public Health Journal focusing on rural oral health in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Covers emergency department use in Texas for oral health needs in rural versus urban counties, geriatric oral health and workforce options such as teledentistry, a Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment project under a state waiver targeting rural communities, partnerships to reach underserved areas and pregnant women, and oral health initiatives in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Citation: Texas Public Health Journal, 71(2), 2-16
Date: 04/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Texas Public Health Association
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