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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Social determinants of health

Medicaid: Efforts to Identify, Predict, or Manage High-Expenditure Beneficiaries
Describes strategies used in 7 states to manage beneficiaries' healthcare costs while ensuring quality care, and lists resources the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides to help states identify, predict, and manage high-expenditure beneficiaries. Discusses effects of social determinants of health and staff shortages in rural areas. Includes statistics for Medicaid expenditures among beneficiaries enrolled only in Medicaid, for fiscal years 2009-2011.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Advancing Health Equity and Access Using Telemedicine: A Geospatial Assessment
Highlights a study on the effectiveness of a virtual urgent care (VUC) program in expanding healthcare access and addressing health equity in rural populations in North Carolina. Compares rural versus urban areas and breaks down data by rates of poverty, Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, and broadband access, among other measures.
Author(s): Saif Khairat, Timothy Haithcoat, Songzi Liu, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 26(8-9), 796–805
Date: 08/2019
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Adverse Childhood Experiences of Urban and Rural Preschool Children in Poverty
Examines the interaction of race and geographic location on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) for preschool children living in poverty in Arkansas. Data was collected using the Family Map Inventory–Early Childhood (FMI-EC) tool of structured interviews and observation items for assessing family and home environment characteristics linked with children's well-being.
Author(s): Leanne Whiteside-Mansell, Lorraine McKelvey, Jennifer Saccente, James P. Selig
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(14), 2623
Date: 07/2019
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A Rising Tide: Increasing Rural Local Health Department Capacity to Address the Social Determinants of Health
Describes unique challenges faced by rural local health departments (LHDs), as well as assets such as community connectivity and trusted local institutions. Explores the ways in which partnerships, leadership, community engagement, data and evaluation, and community health improvement planning function as foundational elements in addressing social determinants of health in rural communities.
Author(s): Karla Feeser, Melissa Mayer, Ashley Edmiston
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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The Rural-ness of Social Isolation: Information from Recent Public Health Research
Dr. Carrie Henning-Smith, deputy director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, explains how social isolation and loneliness impact rural Americans, based on information from her team's recent studies.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Social Isolation and Loneliness: Insights from Rural Clinical Providers and Other Experts
Provides an overview of social isolation and loneliness and the factors, such as limited transportation options, that can contribute to these problems in rural areas. Includes discussion of social risk assessments. Features rural clinicians, researchers, and other experts sharing their perspectives on addressing these concerns.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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On the Path to Health Equity: Building Capacity to Measure Health Outcomes in Community Development
Report details the role of social determinants of health in perpetuating health inequities in communities. Highlights strategies for communities to address these inequities in both rural and urban areas.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organizations: Enterprise Community Partners, NeighborWorks America
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New Mexico Rural Health Plan
Presents the results of a rural health strategic planning project to develop recommendations for improving the health status and healthcare services in rural New Mexico. Report includes a definition of rural, a rural health priority assessment, identification of rural health priorities of local communities, and program and policy recommendations.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: New Mexico Department of Health
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Homelessness in Early Childhood
Estimates the number of homeless children under age 4 in Michigan by county and rural/urban location. Discusses the potential impacts of homelessness on children's emotional and cognitive development as well as programs that can help, such as Head Start.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Michigan League for Public Policy
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Rural-Urban and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Invasive Cervical Cancer Incidence in the United States, 2010-2014
Results of a study examining 59,432 cases of cervical cancer. Features statistics on age-adjusted cervical cancer incidence, with breakdowns by race or ethnicity and urban or rural location.
Author(s): Lulu Yu, Susan A. Sabatino, Mary C. White
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 16
Date: 06/2019
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