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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Public health

Analysis of Wastewater Samples to Explore Community Substance Use in the United States: Pilot Correlative and Machine Learning Study
Analyzed wastewater samples from 12 locations in the United States to determine feasibility in using wastewater surveillance for monitoring substance use. Discusses using machine learning as a public health tool for analyzing data to identify communities with similar resource needs. Includes rural-specific concerns.
Author(s): Marie A. Severson, Sathaporn Onanong, Alexandra Dolezal, et al.
Citation: JMIR Formative Research, 7(2023), 45353
Date: 2023
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Maine Opioid Response: 2023-2025 Strategic Action Plan
Outlines steps being taken to save lives, to prevent substance use disorder (SUD), and to ensure that people in Maine can achieve their full potential. Focuses on prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery, as well as public safety and infrastructure, language to acknowledge the importance of working with veterans, New Mainers, and faith-based SUD treatment programs. Mentions rural throughout.
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: Maine Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future
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Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Performance Functions
Offers data for use in developing pedestrian and bicycle safety performance functions (SPFs) for transportation practitioners at all levels to better inform planning, design, and operations decisions. Includes statistics for a wide range of site types including roadway segments and intersections in rural, urban, and suburban areas.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organizations: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Transportation Research Board
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A Population Health Workforce to Meet 21st Century Challenges and Opportunities: Proceedings of a Workshop
Proceedings from a February 28, 2022 workshop exploring challenges faced by public health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, renewed policymaker attention, and expenditures directed to supporting the public health workforce. Intended to showcase the training, roles of, and setting for population health workers. Includes information focused on tribal communities in chapters 3 and 4.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Roundtable on Population Health Improvement
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Navigating Infodemics and Building Trust During Public Health Emergencies
Proceedings of a workshop focused on public health infodemics, their history and impact, infodemics during public health emergencies, and tools and practices used to address infodemics. Includes discussions about building trust related to infodemics, particularly in the cultural context of rural, tribal, and/or underserved areas.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Health Sciences Policy
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Highway Safety Behavioral Strategies for Rural Areas
Provides an overview of the risk factors of rural roads, such as rough terrain, wildlife, and lack of services over long distances. Includes examples of how to define rural roads, a related literature review of behavioral strategies in rural environments; safety toolkits and training; statistics on crashes, fatalities, and injuries; examples of counties that have reduced crashes; and more.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Transportation Research Board
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Highway Safety Behavioral Strategies for Rural and Tribal Areas: A Guide
Discusses the public health concern surrounding roadway fatalities and injuries in rural and tribal areas. Provides guidance on behavioral strategies to improve road safety as well as how to adapt, implement, and evaluate strategies. Includes examples of successful roadway safety countermeasures in rural contexts.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Transportation Research Board
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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COVID-19 Vaccination Willingness and Uptake among Rural Black/African American, Latino, and White Adults
Compares rural and nonrural adults' willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19. Includes descriptive graphs showing reasons for their willingness or unwillingness among rural adults.
Author(s): Paula D. Strassle, Alexis L. Green, Caleb A. Colbert, Anita L. Stewart, Anna M. NĂ¡poles
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 39(4), 756-764
Date: 2023
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Higher Hospitalization and Mortality Rates Among SARS-CoV-2-Infected Persons in Rural America
Presents a study on hospitalizations for COVID-19 based on rurality. Breaks down data for rural, urban-adjacent rural, and urban by age, sex, comorbidities, and outcome, among other measures.
Author(s): Alfred Jerrod Anzalone, Ronald Horswell, Brian M. Hendricks, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 39(1), 39-54
Date: 2023
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Future Planning for the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Enterprise: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summarizes discussions held during a May 2022 workshop to explore the nation's public health emergency (PHE) preparedness enterprise. Includes key components, success stories, and failure points, to identify opportunities for effective catastrophic disaster, pandemic, and other large scale PHEs planning at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels. Mentions disparities between urban and rural or tribal areas throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Disasters and Emergencies
Date: 2023
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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