Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Populations

Early Childhood Care and Education Programs in Rural Areas
Provides statistics on the percentage of children under 6 years and their access to child care by city, suburban, town, and rural locale. Includes discussions related to child care services such as impacts on parental employment and child development.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Education Statistics
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Rural Students' Access to the Internet
Provides percentages of students who have access to fixed broadband by city, suburban, town, and rural locale, which is further broken down by fringe, distant, or remote areas. Includes discussions of related broadband issues such as influences of poverty and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Education Statistics
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Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. 2022
Explores maternal healthcare access and provides county-level U.S. maps that show maternity care deserts, hospitals and birth centers that offer obstetric (OB) care, distribution of OB providers, percentage of women without health insurance, percentage of births covered by Medicaid, and more. Includes rural versus urban characteristics of maternity care deserts as well as access and policy discussions specific to rural areas.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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Community Health Worker Intervention Improves Early Childhood Vaccination Rates: Results from a Propensity-Score Matching Evaluation
Examines the effectiveness of community health worker (CHW) home visiting interventions in the Health Start Program (HSP) in Arizona to improve childhood vaccination rates. Utilizes the Arizona State Immunization Information System (ASIIS) database to compare vaccination uptake among children whose mothers participated in the HSP between 2006 and 2016 to a demographically similar cohort. Analyzes vulnerable populations with a history of low vaccination uptake including Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian, children of low socioeconomic status and/or living with parents with less than a high school education, rural border counties, children with teen mothers, and first-born children.
Author(s): Patrick Wightman, Kelly McCue, Samantha Sabo, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 22,1854
Date: 10/2022
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Improving Access to and Enrollment in Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
Provides an overview of Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), including the history of the model and the recent policy landscape. Identifies challenges to the growth of PACE and offers federal policy recommendations that would address the challenges to the spread and scale of PACE. Discusses the results of the 2006 Rural PACE Provider Grant Program and policies to promote further access to PACE programs in areas with low penetration rates, including rural areas.
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Suicide and Self-Harm in Youth Presenting to a US Rural Hospital During COVID-19
Presents a study on rural emergency department utilization and hospital admission for suicide or self-harm in children ages 5 to 17 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzes hospital data from January 2017 to May 2021. Breaks down data by demographic factors, such as sex and rurality, as well as length of stay and visit type, among other measures.
Author(s): Mary Arakelyan, Jennifer A. Emond, JoAnna K. Leyenaar
Citation: Hospital Pediatrics, 12(10), e336–e342
Date: 10/2022
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Personal Care Aides: Assessing Self-Care Needs And Worker Shortages In Rural Areas
Results of a study addressing the need for and supply of workers to provide personal care services in rural communities. Features statistics on characteristics of personal care aides employed during 2013-2017 with breakdowns by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and county-level maps showing percentages of adults with self-care disabilities and supply of personal care aides per 1,000 adults with self-care disabilities.
Author(s): Susan A. Chapman, Lillie Greiman, Timothy Bates et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 41(10)
Date: 10/2022
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Best of ARM: Evaluating Engagement in Multisector Community Health Networks: The Case of Tribal Organizations
Highlights a study on public health systems' engagement with tribal organizations. Aims to quantify the interactions between public health systems and tribal organizations in tribal communities where tribal facilities are present. Details the factors that contribute to more engagement with tribal organizations and make suggestions to promote collaboration.
Author(s): Kelsey M. Owsley, Kyla L. Bauer, Glen P. Mays
Citation: Health Services Research, 57(5), 1077-1086
Date: 10/2022
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Impact of Concurrent Hospice Care on Primary Care Visits among Children in Southern Rural Appalachia
Explores the relationship between concurrent hospice care and primary care visits among children in southern rural Appalachia between 2011 and 2013. Describes demographic and clinical characteristics of children in hospice care in this study. Discusses the findings in relation to the children's residence in medically underresourced areas.
Author(s): Mary Lou Clark Fornehed, Radion Svynarenko, Lisa C. Lindley
Citation: Journal of Pediatric Health care, 36(5), 438-442
Date: 09/2022
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Mapping Rural and Urban Veterans' Spatial Access to Primary Care Following the MISSION Act
Presents a study on primary care access for rural, micropolitan, and urban areas after the implementation of the 2018 MISSION Act. Bases findings on supply and demand of and for primary care providers in regions of varying rurality for veterans in Oregon.
Author(s): Eliana Sullivan, Whitney E. Zahnd, Jane M. Zhu, et al.
Citation: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37(12), 2941-2947
Date: 09/2022
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