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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Populations

Medicare's Mental Health Coverage: How COVID-19 Highlights Gaps and Opportunities for Improvement
Report explores Medicare beneficiaries' access to mental healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. Breaks down data by beneficiary type, severity of illness, and rural versus urban location, among other measures. Highlights barriers to care and makes recommendations for the future.
Author(s): Beth McGinty
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Effective Community-Based Initiatives Are Needed to Curb the Opioid Crisis
Describes 6 community-research collaboratives to address the opioid crisis at the local level, including programs in St. Louis, MO, Olympia, WA, Ithaca, NY, and rural programs in Rio Arriba County, NM, western North Carolina, and tribal communities in the Midwest and the Northern Plains.
Author(s): Beth Connolly, Leslie Paulson
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Pew
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Challenges and Facilitators of Hospice Decision-making: A Retrospective Review of Family Caregivers of Home Hospice Patients in a Rural US-Mexico Border Region - A Qualitative Study
Highlights a study on hospice care utilization in the rural U.S.-Mexico border region of Southern California. Explores the decisions made by family care givers around hospice care and discusses the factors that shaped those decisions.
Author(s): Eunjeong Ko, Dahlia Fuentes, Savitri Singh-Carlson, Frances Nedjat-Haiem
Citation: BMJ Open, 10(7), e035634
Date: 07/2020
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Spatial Barriers as Moral Failings: What Rural Distance Can Teach Us about Women's Health and Medical Mistrust
Explores the perceptions of rural women about their access to healthcare, including maternal care. Discusses some of the perceived barriers to healthcare access by rural women, such as spacial distance and mistrust of healthcare providers.
Author(s): Michele Statz, Kaylie Evers
Citation: Health and Place, 64, 102396
Date: 07/2020
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Rural Interfacility Emergency Department Transfers: Framework and Qualitative Analysis
Examines the transfer for rural emergency patients to other facilities across 2 urban and 5 rural Veterans Health Administration facilities. Discusses 3 factors that influence the decision of transferring a patient: patient factors, system resources, and clinical and administrative processes.
Author(s): Candace D. McNaughton, Kemberlee Bonnet, David Schlundt, et al.
Citation: The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 21(4), 858-865
Date: 07/2020
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Perceptions of the Food Environment and Access among Predominantly Black Low-Income Residents of Rural Louisiana Communities
Study of food security, food access, and perceptions of the food environment among predominantly Black, low-income rural Louisiana residents. Discusses issues of food insecurity in rural areas related to financial resources, transportation, and food shopping options. Presents recurring themes from focus group discussions including 44 participants, most of whom were Black women of various ages and employment statuses, including experiences finding and buying food, fishing and hunting, and utilizing food pantries, SNAP, WIC, and other assistance programs.
Author(s): Denise Holston, Jessica Stroope, Matthew Greene, Bailey Houghtaling
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(15), 5340
Date: 07/2020
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Practicing Holistic Review in Medical Education
Issue brief that explores holistic review in medical school admissions and key issues related to diversifying and assessing medical school applicants and cohorts in order to expand the healthcare workforce in rural, minority, and underserved areas. Discusses the history and purpose of holistic review, which considers not only academic measures of potential success but also applicants' life experiences, socioeconomic background, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability status, among other characteristics. Recaps informant interviews describing issues and lessons learned from medical school administrators, particularly related to applicant evaluation and emerging assessment methods.
Author(s): Tim Bates, Sunita Mutha, Janet Coffman
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Healthforce Center at UCSF
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Risk for Coccidioidomycosis among Hispanic Farm Workers, California, USA, 2018
Study of occupational risk factors for coccidioidomycosis (a pulmonary and systemic infection also known as Valley fever or San Joaquin Valley Fever) among Hispanic farmworkers in California. Describes the illness and analyzes data collected between June 2016 - August 2018 from patients who received serologic testing for coccidioidomycosis and questionnaire responses from 203 participants representing demographics, health history, and agricultural work history including dust exposure and work hours.
Author(s): Stephen A. McCurdy, Catherine Portillo-Silva, Carol L. Sipan, Heejung Bang, Kirt W. Emery
Citation: Emerging Infectious Diseases, 26(7), 1430-1437
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Contact Tracing for Native Americans in Rural Arizona
Details the efforts to do COVID-19 contact tracing in Native American communities in rural Arizona. Discusses the role of a Critical Access Hospital in providing public health support in rural communities during the pandemic.
Author(s): Ryan M. Close, Myles J. Stone
Citation: New England Journal of Medicine, 383, e15
Date: 07/2020
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The Role of Public Health in COVID-19 Emergency Response Efforts From a Rural Health Perspective
Examines the difficulties rural communities face in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the southeastern region of the U.S. Discusses the COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index, a tool that analyzes epidemiological factors, socioeconomic status, and other indicators to determine which communities are at an increased risk of COVID-19.
Author(s): Sandra Melvin, Corey Wiggins, Nakeitra Burse, Erica Thompson, Mauda Monger
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 17
Date: 07/2020
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