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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Population health

Achieving Health Equity in US Suicides: A Narrative Review and Commentary
Discusses suicide mortality disparities by different demographics, such as age, race, veteran status, and rurality, among others. Tracks suicide rates from 1999-2019 and highlights rates by specific demographic group.
Author(s): Seth W. Perry, Jacob C. Rainey, Stephen Allison, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 22, 1360
Date: 07/2022
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Supporting Dental Therapy through Title VII Training Programs: A Meaningful Strategy for Implementing Equitable Oral Health Care - Nineteenth Annual Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and to Congress
Offers policy and program development recommendations to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding primary care and dental training and education. Provides an overview of the importance of oral health, oral health disparities, and the dental therapy profession. Recommendations cover federal funding for dental therapy programs, dental therapy faculty and dental therapists' inclusion in loan forgiveness programs, and a longitudinal tracking mechanism for dental therapy trainees, faculty, and graduates. Highlights a dental therapy pilot program serving tribal communities in Alaska.
Date: 07/2022
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care Medicine and Dentistry
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Wiping Away the Tears: Addressing Increasing Death in Rural America
Examines rural mortality trends and discusses the impact of the opioid epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic, as well as rural maternal and infant mortality. Describes federally-funded efforts to address rural disparities.
Author(s): Whitney Zahnd
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Community Partnerships: Advancing Behavioral Health Access in Rural Communities
Profiles Eagle Valley Behavioral Health (EVBH), a nonprofit and community mental health center (CMHC) developed to lead community collaboration working to ensure access to high-quality behavioral healthcare in Eagle County, Colorado. Discusses EVBH's collaboration with Building Hope Summit County, a community-wide initiative in a neighboring county focused on suicide prevention efforts. Describes how these initiatives were able to shape local policy, expand the local behavioral health workforce, fund their efforts, and identify and fill gaps in care.
Date: 07/2022
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Inequities in Physical Activity Environments and Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Rural Communities
Examines access to physical activity (PA) environments in 3 rural counties in Georgia. Analyzes 2019 survey data from 728 participants in relation to leisure-time PA, walking and biking for transport, and perceived PA environments with data broken down by race, household income, and neighborhood rurality.
Author(s): Michelle C. Kegler, Nicole Gauthreaux, April Hermstad, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 19
Date: 07/2022
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QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years Who Met the 2018 Federal Physical Activity Guidelines for Both Muscle-Strengthening and Aerobic Physical Activity, by Urbanization Level — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2020
Bar chart showing the percentage of adults meeting physical activity guidelines overall and by urbanization level for large central metro, large fringe metro, medium and small metro, and nonmetropolitan areas.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(27), 887
Date: 07/2022
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Life Expectancy by County, Race, and Ethnicity in the USA, 2000–19: A Systematic Analysis of Health Disparities
Examines county-level racial health disparities over a 20-year period by isolating geography and race/ethnicity in mortality rates. Utilizes death registration data from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System as well as population data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. Includes U.S. maps that show county-level life expectancy by race/ethnicity and figures tracking state-by-state changes in life expectancy by race from 2000 to 2019. Free to download with registration.
Author(s): Laura Dwyer-Lindgren, Parkes Kendrick, Yekaterina O Kelly, et al.
Citation: The Lancet, 400(10345), 25-38
Date: 07/2022
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A Hybrid Implementation-Effectiveness Study of a Community Health Worker-Delivered Intervention to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk in a Rural, Underserved Non-Hispanic Black Population: The CHANGE Study
Examines a sample of 255 Black participants on the effectiveness of the Carolina Heart Alliance Networking for Greater Equity (CHANGE) Program delivered by Community Health Workers (CHW) to rural adults in North Carolina. Provides information on program content, participant characteristics, implementation variables, and overall program effectiveness on blood pressure, nutritious eating, and physical activity.
Author(s): Carmen D. Samuel-Hodge, Ziya Gizlice, Sallie D. Allgood, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Health Promotion, 36(6), 948-958
Date: 07/2022
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Barriers and Facilitators Associated With Establishment of Emergency Department-Initiated Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Maine
Presents a study on the barriers and facilitators for implementing programs that initiate buprenorphine treatment for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) seeking care in critical access hospital (CAH) emergency departments (EDs) in rural Maine. Highlights findings of a survey of CAH ED directors on the challenges of implementing buprenorphine initiation programs.
Author(s): Noah K. Rosenberg, Alexander B. Hill, Lily Johnsky, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(3), 612-619
Date: 06/2022
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Obesity Treatment Initiation, Retention, and Outcomes in the Veterans Affairs MOVE! Program among Rural and Urban Veterans
Compares rural, highly rural, and urban veterans' likelihood of initiating participation in the Veterans Affairs weight management program (VA MOVE!) or of receiving anti-obesity medication or bariatric surgery. Utilizes 2015-2017 Veterans Affairs patient data. Includes data on treatment retention and weight loss.
Author(s): Kathleen M. Robinson, Mark Vander Weg, Helena H. Laroche, et al.
Citation: Obesity Science & Practice, 8(6), 784-793
Date: 06/2022
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