Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Public health

The Community Planning Framework for Healthcare Preparedness
A tool for community planners to help improve healthcare preparedness and delivery during a pandemic or other public health emergency. May be used to enhance existing community plans for medical surge or to develop new plans.
Date: 09/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
view details
Toward Optimal and Equitable Rural Health
Explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced public health and clinical care systems and infrastructure. Features discussion on rural health disparities and offers recommendations for promoting health equity and improving population health.
Author(s): Eduardo Sanchez
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1340-1341
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
view details
The State of Rural Public Health: Enduring Needs in a New Decade
Examines changes in rural/urban disparities over a 40-year period, including differences in life expectancy, social determinants of health, challenges facing local health departments (LHDs), and more. Discusses factors contributing to disparities and provides recommendations to support LHDs and improve public health in rural communities. Supplement contains figures depicting county-level data on life expectancy at birth as well as rural/urban differences in spending at LHDs and transfers to local governments.
Additional links: Supplement
Author(s): Jonathon Leider, Michael Meit, J. Mac McCullough, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1283-1290
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
view details
Cervical Cancer and HPV Vaccination Disparities in South Carolina
Fact sheet outlines the rates of HPV vaccination in rural South Carolina. Compares rates of vaccination initiation and completion between metro and nonmetro areas in SC and nationally, as well as by provider type in rural and urban counties in SC.
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
view details
National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — United States, 2019
Reports on vaccination coverage among U.S. adolescents by age for ages 13 through 17 and overall for 2018 and 2019. Also includes data on vaccination coverage by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residence and poverty status. Includes nonmetro data related to the following vaccines: Tdap (tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis), MenACWY (quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate), HPV (human papillomavirus), MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and varicella.
Author(s): Laurie D. Elam-Evans, David Yankey, James A. Singleton, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(33), 1109-1116
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
view details
Living at Home in Rural America: Improving Accessibility for Older Adults and People with a Disability
Information on current federal resources, programs, and initiatives intended to improve home safety and accessibility for rural older adults and people with disabilities. Supports the Rural Health Strategy, launched by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2018 to improve health care in rural America by leveraging partnerships on the federal, regional, state, and local levels.
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Administration for Community Living, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
view details
Urban–Rural Differences in Suicide Rates, by Sex and Three Leading Methods: United States, 2000–2018
Reports on trends in suicide mortality from 2000 through 2018 among all ages for urban and rural counties. Includes data by sex for the leading methods of suicide: firearms, suffocation, and poisoning.
Additional links: Visual Abstract
Author(s): Kristen Pettrone, Sally C. Curtin
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details
Trends in Number and Distribution of COVID-19 Hotspot Counties — United States, March 8–July 15, 2020
Examines trends in the location of COVID-19 hotspot counties, counties that had increasing case numbers and incidence. Includes maps identifying hotspot counties for specific time periods. Provides data on COVID-19 hotspot alerts for metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore counties.
Author(s): Alexandra M. Oster, Gloria J. Kang, Amy E. Cha, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(33), 1127-1132
Date: 08/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
view details
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
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
view details
Pharmacist-Led Chronic Care Management for Medically Underserved Rural Populations in Florida During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Describes how ambulatory care pharmacists and student pharmacists are implementing telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide chronic care management to underserved, rural communities in Florida. Discusses implications for public health.
Author(s): Madison Como, Chenita White Carter, Margareth Larose-Pierre, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 17:200265
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
view details