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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Families

The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Treatment-Seeking Families with Children with Overweight or Obesity
Presents results of a May 2020 survey on parental stress, personal well-being, and family health behaviors during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizes data from 77 rural Kansas parents whose children were participants in a 2nd to 4th grade pediatric obesity intervention.
Author(s): Bethany Forseth, Kelsey M. Dean, Megan Murray, et al.
Citation: Children's Health Care, 51(3), 300-315
Date: 03/2022
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Parent Partners Provide Mentoring and Support in Rural Iowa
Features a statewide program in Iowa that pairs families whose children have been removed from the home with mentors with shared experience who have successfully navigated the state's Department of Human Services system. Describes the services that mentors provide: coaching, advocating, and connecting clients with community resources.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Aligning Systems to Advance Family and Community Well-Being: A Partnership Playbook for Community Action and Human Services Agencies
Provides an overview of how community action and human service agencies partnered, collaborated, and aligned services to address COVID-19 on a family-level and a systems-level. Presents field examples of partnerships in rural Maryland and rural Ohio with their successes and challenges when aligning services such as Head Start, housing assistance, and more. Discusses how rural models and strategies were employed in other geographic areas to mitigate COVID-19 issues in communities.
Date: 01/2022
Sponsoring organizations: American Public Human Services Association, Community Action Partnership
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Wisconsin Office of Children's Mental Health 2022 Annual Report
Provides an overview on children's mental health in Wisconsin, with information on well-being trends and demographics, partnerships and response to needs, potential strategies, and more. Includes data on county-level provider to resident ratios, mental health statistics broken down by race/ethnicity as well as social/economic factors, and family stories from rural areas.
Additional links: Briefing, Dashboard, Presentation Slides
Date: 2022
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Office of Children's Mental Health
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Federal Nutrition Programs for Grandfamilies and Kinship Families
A fact sheet that provides information on benefits, programs, and organizations that assist low-income grandfamilies and kinship families gaining access to healthy food. Includes information on the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR).
Date: 2022
Sponsoring organizations: Food Research & Action Center, Generations United
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Alaska Native Health Status Report
Provides an overview of Alaskan Native health, with a focus on sociodemographics and social determinants of health (SDOH); mortality; morbidity; maternal, infant, and child health; adolescent health; adult health; preventive care; and environmental health. Includes data and maps on health issues in Alaskan regions. Discusses advocacy, program planning, policy development, and evaluation related to Alaskan Native public health.
Date: 12/2021
Sponsoring organization: Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
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Supporting Families in Region XI AIAN Head Start: Centers' Early Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Describes how Region XI Head Start children's centers adjusted their communications and services with families during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Examines the needs that families reported to center staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, including food and nutrition services and healthcare related to COVID-19, and discusses how centers provided supports to meet these needs.
Author(s): Katie Gonzalez, Sara Bernstein, Lizabeth Malone, Addison Larson, AIAN FACES 2019 Workgroup
Date: 12/2021
Sponsoring organizations: Administration for Children and Families, Mathematica
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Accessing Oral Health Care in Rural Areas
A tip sheet that discusses how pregnant people and children struggle to access oral healthcare in rural areas. Provides strategies for Head Start staff to extend oral healthcare access to rural families.
Date: 11/2021
Sponsoring organizations: Administration for Children and Families, Office of Head Start
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Resource Toolbox for Tribal TANF–Child Welfare Coordination Projects
Toolbox presents a collection of research, evaluations, and other programmatic resources for Tribal TANF-Child Welfare Coordination (TTCW) grantees. Provides information on planning and implementing data collection, performance measurement, measuring outcomes, and sustainability, among other factors.
Author(s): Pirkko Ahonen, Kirsten Keene, Connie Park, et al.
Date: 11/2021
Sponsoring organization: Administration for Children and Families
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Episode 69: Engaging Indigenous Families and Communities
Podcast discusses the approaches tribal communities have taken to support families. Highlights strategies employed by caseworkers to address trauma-related child welfare issues. Features a discussion with representatives of the National Native Children's Trauma Center.
Additional links: Podcast Transcript
Date: 11/2021
Sponsoring organization: Administration for Children and Families
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