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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice
Examines factors that influence maternal and newborn care in the United States, including social determinants such as geographic variability in access to birth settings. Explores challenges faced by women in rural and underserved areas. Includes statistics on infant mortality rates in 2014 with breakdowns by rural or urban locations, and county-level maps showing access to providers and hospitals offering obstetric services.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Children, Youth, and Families
Date: 2020
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Opportunities to Improve Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Disease Services: Integrating Responses to a Dual Epidemic
Examines opioid use and drug-related infectious diseases. Identifies the barriers to integration of opioid use disorder (OUD) and infectious disease services, including barriers faced in rural areas such as workforce shortages. Offers strategies to overcome those barriers. Offers case studies of programs that have successfully integrated services, including programs serving rural areas. Includes policy recommendations.
Additional links: Read Online, Report Highlights
Author(s): Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Date: 2020
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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School Success: An Opportunity for Population Health: Proceedings of a Workshop
Explores how health sector capabilities can be used to improve educational outcomes from pre-school through 12th grade. Includes case studies on flu vaccination as a tool to reduce absenteeism in rural Arkansas and school-based wellness hubs in a rural frontier Oregon county.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Date: 2020
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Rural-Urban Differences In Severe Maternal Morbidity And Mortality In The US, 2007–15
Analyzes severe maternal morbidity and mortality among rural and urban residents during childbirth. Examines data from the 2007-2015 National Inpatient Sample with breakdowns according to age, insurance type, race/ethnicity, income, Census region, and rurality. Discusses policy implications and strategies to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.
Author(s): Katy Backes Kozhimannil, Julia D. Interrante, Carrie Henning-Smith, Lindsay K. Admon
Citation: Health Affairs, 38, 12
Date: 12/2019
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Bringing Palliative Care To Underserved Rural Communities
Discusses challenges and strategies related to providing palliative care to rural, predominantly Black communities in the South. Focuses on bridging cultural divides and integrating patient spirituality into the healthcare process.
Author(s): Charlotte Huff
Citation: Health Affairs, 38(12)
Date: 12/2019
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Telehealth Decreases Rural Emergency Department Wait Times for Behavioral Health Patients in a Group of Critical Access Hospitals
Explores impacts of telehealth on behavioral health patients in rural emergency departments (EDs) at 4 Midwestern Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares wait time and length of stay (LOS) for 153 patients from 2005-2013 before telehealth implementation and 287 patents from 2015-2017 after telehealth implementation. Provides data on patient demographics, wait time, LOS, behavioral health diagnosis, and total costs of ED visit.
Author(s): Roseanne Moody Fairchild, Shiaw-Fen Ferng-Kuo, Stephanie Laws, Hicham Rahmouni, Daniel Hardesty
Citation: Telemedicine and e-Health, 25(12), 1154-1164
Date: 12/2019
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Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center Task Force Report
Reports on the work of the Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center Task Force in Illinois that collected data, examined strategies, and received input from stakeholders from November 2018 to December 2019 in response to the 2018 declaration of an Illinois Behavioral Healthcare Workforce Emergency. The report covers workforce shortage data, evidence-based behavioral health interventions, and taskforce recommendations. Appendix C includes county-level data on behavioral workforce licensures as of 2019. Includes rural references throughout.
Author(s): Sharon Post
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Illinois General Assembly
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Engagement with Project ECHO to Increase Medication-Assisted Treatment in Rural Primary Care
Examines a study on the barriers and facilitators to implementing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder between Project ECHO and rural primary care providers in New Mexico. Bases conclusions on post-ECHO intervention interviews with rural primary care providers and discusses external factors that could factor into the implementation of MAT.
Author(s): Julie Salvador, Snehal Bhatt, Rebecca Fowler, et al.
Citation: Psychiatric Services, 70(12), 1157-1160
Date: 12/2019
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Rural–Urban Disparities in Pregnancy Intentions, Births, and Abortions Among US Adolescent and Young Women, 1995–2017
Study examining disparities in intendedness and resolution of first pregnancies among rural and urban adolescent and young women using 2002-2017 data from the National Survey of Family Growth. Breaks down data by race/ethnicity, by urban, rural, and suburban residence, and by state. Discusses public health implications of the findings.
Author(s): April Sutton, Daniel T. Lichter, Sharon Sassler
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 109(12), 1762-1769
Date: 12/2019
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The Landscape of Obstetric Resources and Risks in Indiana: A Framework for Informing Policy
Provides insight on access to obstetric care resources and infant or maternal health risk factors in Indiana communities. Presents a framework that can be used for targeting state and health system policy and planning by analyzing resources, such as obstetric providers and hospitals with obstetric services, and health risks. Includes a county-level map with breakdowns showing 4 levels of access to obstetric care services, 3 levels of maternal or infant health risks, and shadings to indicate rural counties.
Author(s): Hannah Maxey, Courtney Randolph, Sierra Vaughn
Date: 12/2019
Sponsoring organization: Bowen Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy
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