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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

Perinatal Mortality and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in a Low-Income Rural Population of Women who Smoke
Describes a study of adverse birth outcomes and perinatal mortality rates of low-income women in rural Missouri. Analyzes resulting data by age at enrollment and rate of smoking before and during pregnancy, among other factors. Discusses the role of socioeconomic status and maternal stress as potential factors in birth outcomes.
Author(s): Jane A. McElroy, Tina Bloom, Kelly Moore, et al.
Citation: Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology, 94(4), 223-229
Date: 04/2012
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Hospital Stays with Cardiac Stents, 2009
Provides data on hospitalizations involving cardiac stents. Table 1 lists cardiac stent insertion procedures by location of patient residence, for rural and urban areas.
Author(s): David I. Auerbach, Jared Lane Maeda, Claudia Steiner
Date: 04/2012
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Anticipating the Rural Impact of Medicare Value-Based Purchasing
Describes the design and implementation of Medicare value-based purchasing (VBP) programs. Addresses the potential impact of these programs on rural healthcare providers. Includes discussion on the five provider types: Prospective Payment system (PPS) hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), home health agencies, and physician office practices.
Author(s): A. Clinton MacKinney, Keith J. Mueller, Nicholas P. Lillios, et al.
Date: 04/2012
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Why Use Swing Beds? Conversations with Hospital Administrators and Staff
Includes interviews of hospital administrators and staff about the use of swing beds, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Addresses the role of swing beds in patient care, swing bed volume and financial considerations, swing beds in the context of all community post-acute skilled care, and swing beds as a benefit for community residents.
Author(s): Victoria A. Freeman, Andrea Radford
Date: 04/2012
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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The Last Frontier: Innovative Efforts to Reduce Colorectal Cancer Disparities Among the Remote Alaska Native Population
Measures changes in rate of colorectal cancer screening among the Alaska Native population in rural and remote Alaska between 2005 and 2010. Reports the impact of intervention programs, such as itinerant endoscopy screening clinics and outreach by patient navigators, on rates of screenings.
Author(s): Diana Redwood, Ellen Provost, David Perdue, Donald Haverkamp, David Espey
Citation: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 75(3), 474-480
Date: 03/2012
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Stimulant Use Trajectories and the Longitudinal Risk of Heavy Drinking: Findings From a Rural Population-Based Study
Examines the longitudinal relationships between heavy drinking days and dormant sequences of powder cocaine, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine use among rural residents. Study participants were located in rural communities in Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky.
Author(s): Tyrone F. Borders, Brenda M. Booth
Citation: Addictive Behaviors, 37(3), 269-272
Date: 03/2012
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Suicide Among Patients in the Veterans Affairs Health System: Rural-Urban Differences in Rates, Risks, and Methods
Examines rural and urban differences in suicide rates, risks, and methods in veterans. Provides characteristic data for veterans by sex, age, psychiatric condition, risk days, distance to Veterans Affairs mental healthcare, and more.
Author(s): John F. McCarthy, Frederic C. Blow, Rosalinda V. Ignacio, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 102(Suppl 1), S111–S117
Date: 03/2012
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An Evidence-Based Cessation Strategy Using Rural Smokers' Experiences With Tobacco
Describes personal narratives of current and former smokers living in an economically distressed, rural area of Appalachian Kentucky to identify effective population-based strategies to reach rural smokers and motivate them to quit.
Author(s): Karen M. Butler, Susan Hedgecock, Rachael A. Record, et al.
Citation: Nursing Clinics of North America, 47(1), 31-43
Date: 03/2012
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Handbook for EMS Medical Directors
Provides a baseline overview of key roles and responsibilities to assist current and prospective medical directors in performing their duties. Includes rural and volunteer agencies.
Date: 03/2012
Sponsoring organization: Federal Emergency Management Agency
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Adolescent Alcohol Use: Do Risk and Protective Factors Explain Rural-Urban Differences?
Examines alcohol use among rural and urban adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. Controls for a broad range of key risk and protective factors and compares rural/urban differences.
Additional links: Policy Brief
Author(s): John A. Gale, Jennifer D. Lenardson, David Lambert, David Hartley
Date: 03/2012
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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