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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

VA Mental Health: Additional Action Needed to Assess Rural Veterans' Access to Intensive Care
Report examines the rate at which the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Intensive Mental Health Care programs were being utilized in rural areas. Highlights the difference in the utilization rate of the inpatient, residential, and outpatient mental health programs for both rural and urban veterans. Makes suggestions for how the VHA can improve these rates going forward.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 02/2023
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Geography, Rurality, and Community Distress: Deaths Due to Suicide, Alcohol-Use, and Drug-Use among Colorado Veterans
Explores the connection between distressed communities and mortality disparities in the Colorado veteran population. Utilizes 2009-2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) to examine suicide, alcohol, and drug related mortalities, with demographic data broken down by sex, age, marital status, distressed community index (DCI), and frontier, rural, or urban location. Includes county-level maps showing DCI and rurality.
Author(s): Talia L. Spark, Colleen E. Reid, Rachel Sayko Adams, et al.
Citation: Injury Epidemiology, 10, 8
Date: 02/2023
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Filling Behavioral Health Gaps in Rural Communities: A Unique Partnership in Washington State
Discusses a collaboration between a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in Washington and state hospitals to accept patient transfers by utilizing swing beds to care for patients with complex behavioral health and social needs, such as substance use disorder, mental health, homelessness, and more. Includes data on swing bed admissions and information on incorporating behavioral health services into primary care.
Author(s): Sarah Klein, Martha Hostetter
Date: 02/2023
Sponsoring organization: The Commonwealth Fund
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Wisconsin State Health Improvement Plan: 2023-2027 Summary
Provides an overview on the collaboration and partnerships to create the state health improvement plan, with a focus on social and community conditions, safety, social belonging and wellness, and mental health. Includes strategies specific to rural areas as well as tribal and local health departments.
Additional links: Implementation Guide
Date: 02/2023
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
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Chartis Center for Rural Health Research & Resources for the 2023 National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Policy Institute Conference
Offers research and analysis of the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Includes Rural Health Safety Net Under Renewed Pressure as Pandemic Fades and presentation slides on this report from the 2023 National Rural Health Association Policy Institute. Provides links to national and state data tables showing the financial impact of federal policies on rural hospitals.
Date: 02/2023
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Rural Health Safety Net Under Renewed Pressure as Pandemic Fades
Examines financial and operational metrics for rural hospitals, comparing hospitals in states that did and did not expand Medicaid, as well as the discontinuation of obstetrics and chemotherapy services. Discusses how the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation can provide a path forward for some rural facilities and explores seven characteristics that may have the greatest impact on a facility's consideration to convert to an REH.
Date: 02/2023
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Tooth Loss and Dental Visits by Indigenous American Indian/Alaska Native Adults in the USA
Presents a study comparing rates of dental visits and missing teeth among rural and urban American Indian and Alaska Native populations. Breaks down data by demographic factors, such as age, income, and health insurance, among other factors.
Author(s): R. Constance Wiener
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 23, 7679
Date: 02/2023
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The Doorway at Cheshire Medical Center Leads to Healing
Profiles the Doorway at Cheshire Medical Center, a program at Cheshire Medical Center, a rural hospital in Keene, New Hampshire. Describes how the Doorway uses evidence-based assessment tools to refer clients to the appropriate services in the community and serves as a connection point between multiple substance use disorder (SUD) services.
Date: 02/2023
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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2023-2027 Ohio State Oral Health Plan
Provides an overview of Ohio's state plan to improve and integrate oral health into citizens' overall healthcare plans. Focuses on community conditions, health behaviors, access to quality care, dental care outcomes, and oral health outcomes. Includes strategies specific to rural, Appalachian Ohio and data on dentists who billed at least 100 services to Medicaid in 2021 by county.
Author(s): Becky Sustersic Carroll, Hailey Akah, Lexi Chirakos
Date: 02/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Health Policy Institute of Ohio, Oral Health Ohio
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The Economic and Societal Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2019 (Revised)
Examines costs resulting from motor vehicle crashes, including economic impact and premature death or lost quality-of-life for those who survive crashes with debilitating injuries. Features statistics on traffic fatalities from 1998-2019, portions of fatalities and injuries occurring in rural areas by injury severity for select states, and economic cost summary with breakdowns by urban and rural areas.
Author(s): Lawrence Blincoe, Ted R. Miller, Jing-Shiarn Wang, et al.
Date: 02/2023
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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