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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health workforce supply and demand

Health Care Access for Infants and Toddlers in Rural Areas
Research brief describing how rural children are more likely to face a unique combination of challenges that negatively impact their health and development, such as fewer healthcare providers, barriers to accessing care, and higher rates of poverty. Includes rural/urban comparisons for each state, with information on the percentage of infants and toddlers lacking health insurance, receiving recommended vaccinations, attending a preventive medical appointment, and more.
Author(s): Jessie Laurore, Gayane Baziyants, Sarah Daily
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Child Trends
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Left Out: Barriers to Health Equity for Rural and Underserved Communities
Summarizes responses to a Request for Information from the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee's Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force. Describes factors contributing to healthcare challenges in rural areas, including demographics, social and structural determinants of health, insurance coverage, access to care, and workforce shortages. Highlights promising models of healthcare delivery in rural areas. Includes state-by-state health equity maps.
Additional links: State and Territory Health Equity Maps, Summary
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: House Ways and Means Committee
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Pennsylvania Mental Health Care Workforce Shortage: Challenges and Solutions: A Staff Study
Provides a discussion of mental healthcare workforce occupations and examines the factors that led to shortages in these fields. Describes how telemedicine can be used to extend the mental healthcare workforce in rural Pennsylvania and determines how state government entities can encourage more people to enter and remain in the mental healthcare workforce. Makes recommendations including increasing the number of psychiatric residencies in rural areas and designating more Rural Health Clinics. Includes a county-level map of Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Grant Rosul, Stephen J. Kramer, Wendy L. Baker
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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Improving Rural Health: State Policy Options for Increasing Access to Care
Discusses strategies from state legislatures and other stakeholders to increase access to healthcare in rural areas. Focuses on policies and policy options for state legislatures in three areas: improving health insurance coverage, safeguarding rural health facilities, and changing rural healthcare delivery. Features examples from Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Author(s): Jack Pitsor
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Supply and Distribution of the Primary Care Workforce in Rural America: 2019
Details the supply of primary care providers in rural and urban areas in the U.S. Compares rates of physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants per 100,000 people by county across the country. Features a state-level analysis.
Additional links: State-level Analysis
Author(s): Eric H. Larson, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Lisa A. Garberson, et al.
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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The Supply and Rural-Urban Distribution of the Obstetrical Care Workforce in the U.S
Highlights the supply of obstetrical care workers in rural and urban areas in the U.S. Compares rates of midwives, advanced practice midwives, obstetricians, and family practice physicians who deliver babies per 100,000 women of childbearing age in rural counties. Features a state-by state analysis and state-level profiles.
Additional links: State-level Reports
Author(s): Davis Patterson, Holly Andrilla, Lisa Garberson
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Promising Practice: Getting More Nurses Working in Rural Montana
Highlights a collaboration between the Montana Office of Rural Health and Montana State University College of Nursing to train nurses to work in rural areas. Details the programs funded through two Health Resources and Services Administration grants: one offered online to train nurse practitioners from all over the state, and the other prepares BSN-level nurses to work in rural primary care.
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
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Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants in North Dakota
Details the supply and distribution of occupational therapists and occupational therapist assistants in North Dakota. Includes a breakdown of rural and urban distribution and retention.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Physical Therapists and Physical Therapist Assistants in North Dakota
Explores the supply and distribution of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in North Dakota. Includes a breakdown of rural and urban distribution and retention.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Arizona Health Workforce Profile: Physician Assistants
Brief reporting on the physician assistant (PA) workforce in Arizona, including a county map with information on PAs per 100,000 residents and distribution in rural and urban areas.
Author(s): B Koch, S Coates, B Coplan, et al.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Arizona Center for Rural Health
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