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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Public health

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 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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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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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. Nápoles
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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Urban-Rural Disparities in Childhood Obesogenic Environments in the United States: Application of Differing Rural Definitions
Analyzes rural versus urban differences in food and physical activity (PA) environments that contribute to childhood obesogenic environment index (COEI) scores. Utilizes multiple data sources to examine 6 food environment variables and 4 PA variables by rural-urban continuum codes, among other rural definitions. Discusses differences in COEI scores and implications for public health practices.
Author(s): Marilyn E. Wende, M. Renée Umstattd Meyer, Christiaan Abildso, Kara Davis, Andrew T. Kaczynski
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 39(1), 121-135
Date: 2023
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Staffing Crisis Casts Shadow Over Vulnerable Rural Communities: Executive Summary
Summarizes key findings from a series of surveys of rural hospital leaders conducted in 2021 and 2022 regarding staffing shortages. Discusses COVID-19 vaccination and exemptions, nursing shortages and the impact on access to care, and the effectiveness of recruiting incentives on attracting staff.
Author(s): Michael Topchik, Troy Brown, Melanie Pinette, Billy Balfour, Ana Wiesse
Date: 12/2022
Sponsoring organization: The Chartis Group
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