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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Physical activity

An Active Roadmap: Best Practices in Rural Mobility
Provides a literature review and cases studies related to the ways rural communities encourage health-focused infrastructure, multimodal transportation, economic development, and environmentally safe practices. Describes the typology and demographics of rural areas and discusses how transportation is linked to wellness and community health outcomes.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Smart Growth America, The National Complete Streets Coalition
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Changes in Physical Inactivity Among US Adults Overall and by Sociodemographic Characteristics, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2020 Versus 2018
Analyzes changes in physical activity in U.S. adults during the COVID-19 pandemic by comparing 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to 2018 and 2016 data. Focuses on prevalence of physical inactivity according to age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, and rural versus urban geographic location.
Author(s): Miriam E. Van Dyke, Tiffany J. Chen, Jasmine Y. Nakayama, Latetia V. Moore, Geoffrey P. Whitfield
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 20
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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State Differences in Recommended Components of Care Received During Postpartum Visits for Rural and Urban Residents, 2016-2019
Policy brief measuring state-level differences in receipt of recommended postpartum care components for urban and rural residents, using data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. Features statistics on the median number of postpartum care components with breakdowns by state and rurality, and state-level maps with shadings showing frequency of screening for depression, smoking, abuse, and counseling for contraception, eating and exercise, and birth spacing.
Author(s): Julia D. Interrante, Phoebe Chastain, Katy Backes Kozhimannil
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Activity-Limiting Injury in Adults: United States, 2020−2021
Reports on adults who had an activity-limiting injury in 2020-2021 by sex, age, race, income, education, region, and urbanization level, including large central metropolitan, large fringe metropolitan, medium and small metropolitan, and nonmetropolitan.
Author(s): Amy E. Cha, Xun Wang
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Contextualizing Physical Activity in Rural Adults: Do Relationships Between Income Inequality, Neighborhood Environments, and Physical Activity Exist?
Examines a selection of rural southern counties to see how social determinants of health (SDOH) are related to physical activity. Utilizes data from an August 2020-March 2021 telephone survey to analyze physical activity in 334 respondents by sex, race, income, obesity status, marriage status, as well as rates of income inequality, social cohesion, and walkability of community.
Author(s): Samuel L. K. Baxter, Giselle Corbie, Sarah F. Griffin
Citation: Health Services Research
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
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Pennsylvania State Health Improvement Plan, 2023-2028
Multi-year strategic plan developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Healthy Pennsylvania Partnership, a multi-sector partnership of stakeholders and collaborators. Outlines steps and partnerships needed to achieve health equity, chronic disease prevention, and whole person care, and encourages policymakers, healthcare providers, nonprofits, and residents to promote and support health improvements throughout Pennsylvania.
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Department of Health
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Measuring and Mapping Physical Activity Disparity (PAD) Index Based on Physical Activity Environment for Children
Uses the Physical Activity Disparity (PAD) index to measure accessibility, availability, accommodation, affordability, and acceptability for children's physical activity in the United States and the state of Georgia at the county level. PAD index identifies "play oases" and "play deserts" for children. Figure 3 shows the PAD index alongside rural and urban classifications.
Author(s): Jue Yang, Lan Mu, Janani Rajbhandari-Thapa
Citation: International Journal of Geo-Information, 12(3), 134
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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Deploying Digital Health Technologies for Remote Physical Activity Monitoring of Rural Populations With Chronic Neurologic Disease
Examines remote monitoring of physical activity (PA) levels of rural individuals enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration with a diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) or stroke. Analyzes data from 40 participants broken down by demographic information, rurality, technology access, exercise self-efficacy, fatigue, mental health, and more. Discusses the feasibility of using remote monitoring to assess PA in rural individuals with neurological disease.
Author(s): Kimberly J. Waddell, Mitesh S. Patel, Jayne R. Wilkinson, et al.
Citation: Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation, 5(1)
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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Factors Impacting Implementation of Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies in Rural Schools
Examines school policies and implementation related to nutrition and physical activity (PA) to understand the disproportionate rates of obesity in rural Latino children. Analyzes perceptions of policies and barriers from 20 interviews with stakeholders in Lower Yakima Valley of Eastern Washington State K-12 school districts. Discusses themes such as knowledge of school PA and nutrition policies as well as barriers and facilitators to policy implementation.
Author(s): Caryn Ausenhus, Joshua M. Gold, Cynthia K. Perry, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 23, 308
Date: 02/2023
Type: Document
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Feeding the Residents of Hardeman County Tennessee
Profiles Healthy Hardeman Outreach for Healthy Weight (H2O), a partnership between the Healthcare Bolivar General Hospital (BGH), the Hardeman County Health Department, and Hardeman County Community Health Center to improve access to healthy foods and reduce obesity in the Tennessee county.
Date: 02/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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