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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health conditions

Understanding the Influence of Social Determinants of Health on Symptom Reporting in Pediatric Cancer
Highlights a study on the social determinants of health of caregivers of children with cancer in Appalachia. Discusses the symptom burden of child cancer and breaks down data by child's age, rurality, and Appalachian versus non-Appalachian location, among other measures.
Author(s): Micah A. Skeens, Adelaide Booze, Mark Ranalli, Anna Olsavsky
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(3), e70071
Date: 08/2025
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Mental and Physical Health of US Rural/Urban Caregivers of Persons With Dementia
Presents a study on the physical and mental health of caregivers of people with dementia in rural and urban areas. Highlights access challenges for both physical and mental health in rural areas and compares rates of mental and physical issues among rural and urban caregivers.
Author(s): Phoebe Tran, Fei Wang, E-Shien Chang
Citation: PLOS ONE, 20(8), e0329260
Date: 08/2025
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Stalled Progress and Emerging Disparities in Acute Myocardial Infarction Mortality among U.S. Older Adults (> 65 Years) with Renal Failure, 1999–2023
Examines mortality trends related to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and renal failure in older adults. Analyzes 288,801 AMI-related renal-failure deaths from 1999-2023 according to patient demographics, U.S. region, and metro versus nonmetro location.
Author(s): Bazil Azeem, Yumna Fatima, Iffat Ambreen Magsi, et al.
Citation: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 25, 565
Date: 08/2025
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Urban–Rural Disparities in Lung Cancer Incidence and Mortality Patterns in Black and White Populations
Examines lung cancer incidence and mortality across rural and urban populations. Utilizes National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program data to analyzes rural versus urban disparities in lung cancer, with further breakdowns according to demographic variables.
Author(s): Nadia Howlader, Kathleen A. Cronin, Mandi Yu, Daniel Miller, Douglas R. Lowy
Citation: Cancer: An International Interdisciplinary Journal of the American Cancer Society, 131(15)
Date: 08/2025
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Maternal and Child Health Services Title V Block Grant - Tennessee: FY 2025 Application/FY 2023 Annual Report
Describes Tennessee's maternal and child health programs, including issues related to closures of birthing hospitals, healthcare access in rural areas, family planning, childhood obesity, tobacco use, telehealth access, transportation, and more.
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: Tennessee Department of Health
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Palliative Care Specialist Use Among Medicare Decedents Who Had Poor-Prognosis Cancers
Examines demographic variation in specialty palliative care (PC) use, utilizing data of all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who died from poor-prognosis cancers between 2018 and 2023. See Figure 3 for data on associations between rural or urban populations, among other factors, and PC use.
Author(s): Isaac S. Chua, Haiden A. Huskamp, Ateev Mehrotra, Andrew D. Wilcock
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 8(7), e2522886
Date: 07/2025
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Promoting Intergenerational Health in Rural Kentuckians With Diabetes (PIHRK'D): Protocol for a Longitudinal Cohort Study
Study protocol analyzing whether family participation influences the effectiveness of a nutritional education intervention for rural Kentuckians with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Author(s): Brittany L. Smalls, Courtney L. Ortz, Makenzie Barr-Porter, et al.
Citation: JMIR Research Protocols, 14, e69301
Date: 07/2025
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Beyond Our Walls: Leveraging Pharmacies for STI Services and Care
Profiles NACCHO and CDC-funded partnerships between local health departments and pharmacies to expand sexually-transmitted infection (STI) services and access to care in their communities. See Appendix 2 for discussion of observations and implementation of HIV/STI programming in rural Chaffee County, Colorado.
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Adult Tobacco Use in Vermont
Data brief summarizing tobacco measures from the 2023 Vermont Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a phone survey of adult Vermonters. Features a county-level map showing smoking rates, and statistics with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: Vermont Department of Health
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New Resource Webinar: CRC Screening in Rural Communities Best Practices Guidebook
Webinar introducing the ACS NCCRT Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening in Rural Communities Best Practices Guidebook. Includes an overview of CRC disparities in rural communities and offers guidance for organizations working to improve CRC screening rates in their communities. Highlights successes of CRC screening programs in Alaska and Arizona administered by the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation and Mariposa Community Health Center.
Additional links: Colorectal Cancer Screening in Rural Communities Best Practices Guidebook, Presentation Slides
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: American Cancer Society National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (ACS NCCRT)
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