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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

Health Care in Rural America: A Focus on Dental Care
Presents findings from a survey of rural adults age 40 and over conducted from November 20 to December 18, 2020, addressing challenges rural populations face in maintaining oral health and consistently accessing oral health providers. Also addresses difficulty paying dental bills and delays in seeking care as a result. Presents data on dental visits by health status, income, insurance coverage, and reasons for delaying or forgoing care.
Additional links: Annotated Questionnaire
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: AARP
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Mapping the Location of Health Centers in Relation to "Maternity Care Deserts": Associations With Utilization of Women's Health Providers and Services
Explores the association between community health centers' (CHC) distance to a maternity care desert (MCD) and use of maternity-related healthcare services. Discusses the effects of rural hospital closures and provider shortages on patients' access to maternity care. Includes a county-level MCD map and county-level and CHC-level statistics related to MCDs.
Author(s): Anne R. Markus, Drishti Pillai
Citation: Medical Care, 59(10), S434-S440
Date: 10/2021
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The Effect of National Health Service Corps Clinician Staffing on Medical and Behavioral Health Care Costs in Community Health Centers
Examines the contribution of National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and non-NHSC clinicians to medical and behavioral health costs per visit, using 2013-2017 data from 1,022 Federally Qualified Health Centers merged with the NHSC participant data. Features statistics on average costs per visit for medical or behavioral healthcare, with breakdowns including rural facility location.
Author(s): Xinxin Han, Patricia Pittman, Leighton Ku
Citation: Medical Care, 59(10), S428-S433
Date: 10/2021
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The Impact of COVID-19 on People with Disabilities
Examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities. Covers access to healthcare and direct care workers, congregate care settings and transition, education, employment, effective communication, and mental health and suicide prevention services. Identifies challenges to rural residents throughout, including access to broadband in rural areas. Offers policy recommendations to federal and state policymakers and other relevant stakeholders.
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Disability
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How North Dakota Uses 1915(i) to Provide Supportive Services to People with Behavioral Health Conditions in Rural Areas
Describes how the North Dakota Department of Human Services utilizes the Medicaid 1915(i) state plan authority to fill gaps in community-based services for beneficiaries with behavioral health conditions. Highlights how the program addresses challenges to delivering services in rural areas.
Author(s): Emily Brostek, Neva Kaye
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: National Academy for State Health Policy
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Unpacking the Geography of America's Youth Suicide Epidemic
Analyzes data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) database from 2000 through 2019 looking at suicide rates in 10 to 24-year-olds by 15 community types such as aging farmlands, Native American lands, rural middle America, and more. Includes discussion highlighting suicide rates among Native American populations and differences between rural and urban residents.
Author(s): Dante Chinni
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: American Communities Project
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Analysis of Suicide After Cancer Diagnosis by US County-Level Income and Rural vs Urban Designation, 2000-2016
Study examining suicide risk among 5,362,782 people diagnosed with cancer between January 2000 and December 2016 based on Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program 18 (SEER 18) data. Analyzes suicide risk based on rural and urban county of residence and other demographic factors.
Author(s): Ryan Suk, Young-Rock Hong, Rachel M. Wasserman, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 4(10), e2129913
Date: 10/2021
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Following Labor and Delivery Unit Closures in Rural New Hampshire, Driving Time to the Nearest Unit Doubled
Examines the impact of the closure of 9 labor and delivery units in rural New Hampshire on the driving time to open units between 2000 and 2018. Explores the association between proximity to an open labor and delivery unit and women's health and socioeconomic characteristics.
Author(s): Stacey McMorrow, Sarah Benatar, Timothy J. Fisher
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
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Caring for America: Legislation to Support Patients, Caregivers, and Providers
Recording of a U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on legislation related to funding for behavioral and mental health services for the healthcare workforce; a loan repayment program for local, state, and tribal public health professionals; increasing diversity in allied health professions; improving health outcomes in underserved communities through the use of community health workers; and more. Includes testimony from the National Association of County and City Health Officials, Augusta University, Ballad Health, and others.
Additional links: Alan Levine, Ballad Health - Testimony, Brooks A. Keel, Augusta University - Testimony, Lisa Macon Harrison, National Association of County and City Health Officials - Testimony
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Overdose Prevention Strategy
Examines trends in overdose deaths between 1999 and 2019. Describes the development and 4 priority areas of the federal Overdose Prevention Strategy, as well as objectives for each priority area. Highlights examples of programs that address substance use disorder prevention and treatment in rural areas.
Date: 10/2021
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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