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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health occupations

Behavioral Health: Available Workforce Information and Federal Actions to Help Recruit and Retain Providers
Examines the available information on the behavioral health workforce, including federal data on the number of providers nationwide and the projection of the supply and demand for behavioral health providers in 2030. Identifies key barriers to recruiting and retaining behavioral health providers, as well as actions federal agencies have taken to support recruiting and retaining these providers. Outlines federal loan repayment, scholarship, and training programs designed to address workforce challenges in rural and other underserved areas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Rural Health Clinics: Focusing on the Patient
Brief overview of the history of Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), from their origins in the Rural Health Clinic Services Act of 1977, and into the present, as they continue to provide an array of vital services to rural communities.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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A Career of Influencing Rural Healthcare Delivery: Bill Finerfrock and the NARHC Origin Story
Reviews the founding of the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC), with insights from long-time NARHC executive director Bill Finerfrock about collaborative work with other rural health organizations to support the Rural Health Clinic program.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Rural Health Clinic Program at 45 Years: Created for Access and Still Delivering Care
Features rural health policy experts, researchers, and clinicians discussing the impact of the Rural Health Clinic (RHC) program on outpatient healthcare delivery.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Influenza and COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Health Care Personnel — United States, 2021–22
Reports on influenza, primary COVID-19, and COVID-19 booster vaccination coverage among healthcare personnel during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 flu seasons. Includes data by primary workplace location for rural and nonrural areas.
Author(s): Hilda Razzaghi, Anup Srivastav, Marie A. de Perio, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(42), 1319-1326
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Maternal Health: Availability of Hospital-Based Obstetric Care in Rural Areas
Explores the availability of hospital-based obstetric services in rural areas. Summarizes stakeholder perspectives on the factors affecting the availability of these services and on the efforts federal agencies, states, and others could take to increase the access to obstetric care. Highlights six programs identified by researchers and provider associations as effective at increasing obstetric care in rural areas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Small Rural Hospitals with Low-Volume Emergency Departments that May Convert to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH)
Explores a variety of characteristics of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and rural hospitals eligible to convert to the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation, including patient volume, services and technology, EMS, and clinical staffing characteristics. Compares eligible hospitals by emergency department volume in 2019. Summarizes observations made by emergency department physician advisers regarding this data and REH implementation concerns.
Author(s): Margaret Greenwood-Ericksen, T.J. Grant, Susie Gurzenda, et al.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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How Alaska Supports Rural and Frontier Behavioral Health Services
Describes Alaska's Behavioral Health Aide (BHA) program, a non-licensed provider type designed to promote behavioral health and wellness in Alaska Native individuals, families, and communities through culturally relevant training and education. Discusses qualifications for the BHA certification, payment, and next steps for other states seeking to develop similar programs.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: National Academy for State Health Policy
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Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. 2022
Explores maternal healthcare access and provides county-level U.S. maps that show maternity care deserts, hospitals and birth centers that offer obstetric (OB) care, distribution of OB providers, percentage of women without health insurance, percentage of births covered by Medicaid, and more. Includes rural versus urban characteristics of maternity care deserts as well as access and policy discussions specific to rural areas.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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Community Health Worker Intervention Improves Early Childhood Vaccination Rates: Results from a Propensity-Score Matching Evaluation
Examines the effectiveness of community health worker (CHW) home visiting interventions in the Health Start Program (HSP) in Arizona to improve childhood vaccination rates. Utilizes the Arizona State Immunization Information System (ASIIS) database to compare vaccination uptake among children whose mothers participated in the HSP between 2006 and 2016 to a demographically similar cohort. Analyzes vulnerable populations with a history of low vaccination uptake including Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian, children of low socioeconomic status and/or living with parents with less than a high school education, rural border counties, children with teen mothers, and first-born children.
Author(s): Patrick Wightman, Kelly McCue, Samantha Sabo, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 22,1854
Date: 10/2022
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