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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Social determinants of health

Fewer Hospitalized Medicare Beneficiaries Are Receiving Recommended Home Health Care
Describes trends in Medicare patients' receipt of recommended home health services following a hospitalization between 2016 and 2022. Presents data on home health referral completion rates by gender, race, dual eligibility status, rural/urban location, and social deprivation index groups. Discusses factors that could influence home health utilization trends and considerations for policymakers.
Author(s): Marie Steele-Adjognon, Clarence Kelley, Lane Koenig
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Commonwealth Fund, KNG Health Consulting, LLC
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Rural Community Health Worker Programs: Proving Value and Finding Sustainability
Features four rural healthcare organizations describing the impact of their community health worker (CHW) programs and strategies for sustaining them. Discusses CHW roles, activities, reimbursement options, and more.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Building Resilience: How Recent Federal Policy Is Laying the Groundwork for Improved Climate Adaptation
Examines the intersection of public health, climate change, and equity and details federal policy that focuses on climate adaptation and resilience strategies for underserved, rural, and/or tribal communities. Provides resources and collaborative opportunities for public health departments to address climate change issues in their local areas. Includes data on global surface temperature by year and state-by-state infrastructure funding to improve environmental health.
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Trust for America's Health
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Risk Factors for Persistent Fatal Opioid-Involved Overdose Clusters in Massachusetts 2011–2021: A Spatial Statistical Analysis with Socio-Economic, Accessibility, and Prescription Factors
Examines locations with high opioid-involved overdose deaths in Massachusetts as well as factors contributing to mortality, such as social infrastructure and opioid prescribing practices. Provides state maps showing opioid overdose rates according to ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA). Includes data on social infrastructure access, opioid prescriptions, and ZCTA clusters, with breakdowns by poverty and race.
Author(s): Sumeeta Srinivasan, Jennifer Pustz, Elizabeth Marsh, Leonard D. Young, Thomas J. Stopka
Citation: BMC Public Health, 24, 1893
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
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Using Social Risks to Predict Unplanned Hospital Readmission and Emergency Care Among Hospitalized Veterans
Examines the correlation of hospital readmission rates of veterans and social risk. Utilizes 2016-2022 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data to create a social risk index, focusing on domains such as psychosocial, financial, housing, food insecurity, violence, access to care, neighborhood deprivation, and more. Includes breakdowns of social risk according to sociodemographic variables, VA priority enrollment, hospital readmission, and rural, highly rural, or urban.
Author(s): Portia Y. Cornell, Cassandra L. Hua, Zachary M. Buchalksi, et al.
Citation: Health Services Research
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
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Screening for Health-Related Social Needs: A Comparison of CAHs and Non-CAHs
Provides an overview of health-related social needs (HRSN) and social determinants of health (SDOH) and the impacts of screening for and collecting data on HRSN and SDOH. Analyzes 2022 American Hospital Association Annual Survey and Information Technology Supplement data to describe the collection of HRSN data among Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares the specific HRSNs assessed and programs to address HRSNs among CAHs and non-CAH hospitals. Presents data on the collection of HRSN data by CAHs by health system membership and electronic health record vendor. Describes the use of HRSN data by CAHs that routinely collect and do not routinely collect this data.
Author(s): Madeleine Pick, Carson Crane, Megan Lahr, Robert Barclay
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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The Impact of Regional Disparities on the Availability of Meningococcal Vaccines in the US
Analyzes the relationship among meningococcal vaccines, area-level socioeconomic status (SES), and state policies. Provides data on variables correlated with stocking rate, such as SES, social vulnerability, healthcare access, vaccine policies, and rural or micropolitan area, as well as public versus private proportion of doses. Includes county-level U.S. maps showing variations in meningococcal vaccine stocking rates.
Author(s): Katharina Schley, Eva Jodar, Jessica V. Presa, Sarah J. Willis, Christopher G. Prener
Citation: BMC Public Health, 24, 1771
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
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Fetal Death in Tennessee, 2017-2021: 2024 Report
Describes the characteristics and trends of reportable fetal deaths in Tennessee from 2017-2021. Features statistics including fetal mortality rate with breakdowns by 6 levels of population density.
Date: 06/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Tennessee Department of Health
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Report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services: Encouraging Rural Participation in Population-Based Total Cost of Care (PB-TCOC) Models
Summarizes findings from the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee's (PTAC) review of information on best practices for addressing rural health challenges and encouraging rural participation in value-based care and PB-TCOC models. Describes the importance of addressing challenges affecting patients and providers in rural communities, developing financial incentives and glide paths to encourage rural participation in value-based care, and measuring and incentivizing value-based care and social determinants of health for patients in rural areas. Identifies areas where areas where additional research is needed, considerations for policymakers, and potential next steps.
Date: 06/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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The State of the Nation's Housing 2024
Provides an overview of the housing market in the U.S. through early 2024. Focuses on affordability, demand, and climate change associated risks. Discusses rural and urban population migration.
Date: 06/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
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