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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Recruitment and retention of health professionals

Competencies, Training Needs, and Turnover Among Rural Compared With Urban Local Public Health Practitioners: 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey
Analyzes the rural and urban differences in 29,751 public health workers surveyed regarding competencies, training needs, and workplace stressors. Discusses COVID-19 impacts on public health work.
Author(s): Paula M. Kett, Betty Bekemeier, Davis G. Patterson, Kay Schaffer
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 113(6), 689-699
Date: 06/2023
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Assessing the Effectiveness of Policies to Improve Access to Primary Care for Underserved Populations: Case Study Analysis: Kanawha County, West Virginia
Case study of policy initiatives to increase access to primary care, focusing on Kanawha County, West Virginia. Discusses workforce shortages, healthcare access, structural barriers to primary care, healthcare affordability, and more.
Author(s): Maanasa Kona, Jalisa Clark, Emma Walsh-Alker, Megan Houston
Date: 06/2023
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Social Connections Drive Healthcare Professionals to Locate to and Stay in Rural Towns
Bar chart showing reasons that healthcare professionals choose to work in rural communities, with a comparison of factors that impact the decision to practice there and the decision to stay.
Date: 06/2023
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Factors Associated With Health Care Professionals' Choice to Practice in Rural Minnesota
Analyzes the factors that impact a healthcare practitioner's choice to work in rural or urban Minnesota. Utilizes 2021-2022 data from 32,086 respondents to observe feedback from advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and registered nurses (RNs). Discusses issues such as where the practitioner grew up, scope of practice, loan forgiveness opportunities, internship experiences, financial or family considerations, and more.
Author(s): Teri Fritsma, Carrie Henning-Smith, Jacqueline L. Gauer, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(5)
Date: 05/2023
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Policy Recommendations for Improving Rural Cancer Services in the United States
Discusses cancer healthcare access for rural residents and factors in access challenges. Discusses rural physician recruitment, facility closures, reimbursement, data gathering, and graduate medical education. Offers policy recommendations for incentivizing and increasing the rural cancer care workforce as well as gathering cancer-related data.
Author(s): Adrienne B. Lent, Daniel Derksen, Elizabeth T. Jacobs, Leila Barraza, Elizabeth A. Calhoun
Citation: JCO Oncology Practice, 19(5), 288-294
Date: 05/2023
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Achieving Behavioral Health Care Integration in Rural America
Provides an overview of behavioral health and primary care integration and how integration may be different in rural areas than in urban and suburban areas. Examines the barriers to integration in rural areas and opportunities for policies that can improve access to care. Offers policy recommendations to better coordinate and integrate primary care and behavioral health services for high-risk groups and expand the ability of primary care providers to handle the lower-acuity behavioral health needs of patients through enhanced payments, training, and improved access to behavioral health providers for consultation and referral. Builds on the March 2021 report, Tackling America's Mental Health and Addiction Crisis Through Primary Care Integration.
Author(s): Kendall Strong, Michele Gilbert, Julia Harris, et al.
Date: 05/2023
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Recruiting the Next Generation of Behavioral Health Professionals
Podcast episode regarding the recruitment, training, and retention of behavioral health specialists in rural areas. Discusses the University of Iowa Health Care rural psychiatry residency track and Public Psychiatry Fellowship program.
Date: 05/2023
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Purposefully Investing in the Tribal Home Visiting Workforce
Examines the Tribal Home Visiting workforce and the various programs that impact the well-being of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. Includes stories from home visitor staff regarding their work with AI/AN populations, culturally sensitive programming, recruitment and retention strategies, and management of appropriate compensation and training opportunities for the home visiting workforce.
Date: 05/2023
Sponsoring organization: Tribal Home Visiting
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Healthcare Professionals Seek Social Connections When Moving to Rural Towns
Summarizes results of a 2014-2015 survey of 900 rural healthcare providers. Describes the factors that were most often cited by survey respondents as important to their decisions to practice and stay in a rural community.
Author(s): John Pender
Date: 05/2023
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Retaining A Rural Nursing Workforce: It Takes A Village
A podcast that discusses attracting and retaining nurses in rural areas. Focuses on the University of Vermont Health Network and how they addressed the nursing shortage, such as focusing on staff well-being, creating a positive work environment, and investing in higher pay for nurses.
Date: 05/2023
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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