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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: COVID-19

Finding Innovation and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Rural Health Organizations Are Adapting Their Program Strategies
Summarizes a series of virtual peer learning sessions in response to COVID-19 for current Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program, Rural Health Network Development, Small Healthcare Provider Quality Improvement, and Delta States Rural Development Network program grantees. Provides an overview of common themes that emerged from the sessions. Discusses the challenges and innovations made to implement rural health and public programs across six areas: community health workers, data collection and evaluation, virtual trainings, peer support services and recovery supports, telehealth utilization, and schools.
Additional links: Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Adjusting Approaches to Data Collection and Utilization, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Peer Support and Recovery Services in a Virtual Environment, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Strategies for Supporting Community by Maintaining Work With Schools, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Taking Community Health Worker Practice Virtual, Adaptive Strategies for Rural Grantees Amid COVID-19: Using Telehealth in New and Improved Ways to Meet Emerging Needs, Guide for Planning and Hosting an Effective Virtual Meeting/Training Event
Author(s): Tanisa Adimu, John Butts, Coleman Tanner, et al.
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Health Policy Center
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COVID-19's Current Impact on Rural Healthcare Delivery: Q&A with Brock Slabach
An interview with Brock Slabach, the National Rural Health Association's Senior Vice President for Member Services. Discusses the impact of COVID-19 on rural healthcare facilities, policy changes impacting rural providers, collaboration among rural communities to help share solutions, and the use of telehealth during the pandemic.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church — Arkansas, March 2020
Reports on the spread of COVID-19 in a rural Arkansas church in March 2020, as well as spread within the community that was linked to the church.
Author(s): Allison James, Lesli Eagle, Cassandra Phillips, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(20), 632-635
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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The State of Broadband Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
Presents the May 13, 2020, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on maintaining and expanding high-speed and reliable broadband access during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Examines the impact CARES Act funding directed to support broadband initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels. Testimonies include discussion of challenges and policy options for broadband access in rural areas.
Additional links: Competitive Carriers Testimony, NTCA - The Rural Broadband Association Testimony, Public Knowledge Testimony, USTelecom - The Broadband Association Testimony
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
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Mental Health in a Pandemic: Q&A with Thomasine Heitkamp and Dennis Mohatt
An interview with Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center co-directors Thomasine Heitkamp and Dennis Mohatt on the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discusses telehealth, economic insecurity, broadband, and mental health under COVID-19 and self-isolation.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Public Health Response to the Initiation and Spread of Pandemic COVID-19 in the United States, February 24–April 21, 2020
Identifies factors that contributed to the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020. Discusses transmission due to travel, large gatherings (including a funeral in rural Georgia), high-risk workplaces such as rural meatpacking facilities, densely populated areas, and unrecognized transmission related to limited testing and asymptomatic and presymptomatic spread.
Author(s): Anne Schuchat
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(18), 551-556
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities ― 19 States, April 2020
Examines COVID-19 cases among workers in 115 meat and poultry processing facilities reported by 19 states. Discusses factors potentially affecting risk for infection, including difficulties with workplace physical distancing and hygiene and crowded living and transportation conditions. Includes recommended changes to address these issues.
Author(s): Jonathan W. Dyal, Michael P. Grant, Kendra Broadwater, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(18), 557-561
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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COVID-19 and the Indian Health Service
Discusses how the Indian Health Service (IHS) has been impacted by COVID-19. Describes concerns some tribes have, including the IHS testing capacity for COVID-19, workforce shortages, and lost revenue at IHS facilities. Outlines federal funding efforts to enhance the IHS COVID-19 response.
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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An Older Population Increases Estimated COVID-19 Death Rates in Rural America
Examines the influence of age structure and other factors on the spread of coronavirus in rural areas of the U.S. Compares the incidence of the virus and the estimated mortality rates due to the virus in rural and urban areas.
Author(s): Kenneth M. Johnson
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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Hospital Access in the Fifth District and COVID-19
Examines hospital access in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Washington D.C. Discusses concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic and provides state- and county-level statistics and data on number of hospital beds per capita, average distance to nearest hospitals, and more.
Author(s): Surekha Carpenter, Tim Sablik
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
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