Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Veterans

Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: Geriatric Scholars Training Program
Details a Veterans Administration training program model for providers practicing in Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) or in home-based primary care serving elderly (65+) rural veterans. Features examples of promising results, implementation information, and adoption considerations.
Additional links: Overview
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: Using Clinical Video Telehealth to Provide Comprehensive Care to Rural Veterans with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Presents a report on the VHA's use of video telehealth in clinical settings to provide access to treatment for rural veterans with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Discusses implementation strategies and the roles of neurologists, physical therapists, and telehealth support staff.
Additional links: Overview
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: Remote, Telephone-Based Delivery of Cardiac Rehabilitation
Presents a model from the VHA that uses telemedicine to provide cardiac rehabilitation to rural veterans. Highlights the three phases of the program that facilitate patient rehabilitation from hospitalization to regular check ups.
Additional links: Overview
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: Training Community Clergy Partners to Increase Access to Care for Rural Veterans
Presents a toolkit and web-based module for the development, implementation, and evaluation of a mental health training program for clergy to help rural veterans. Discusses in-person and web-based training methods implemented in the pilot program. Includes outcomes regarding the increase of access to mental healthcare and clinical impact for rural veterans, among other factors.
Additional links: Overview
Author(s): James Goalder, Kristen Wing, Eric Crawford, Keith Ethridge
Date: 11/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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Listening to the Patient: Women Veterans' Insights About Health Care Needs, Access, and Quality in Rural Areas
Presents a study on rural women veterans' experiences accessing quality healthcare. Focus group results highlight issues pertaining to access to oral and mental healthcare, community-based supports services, and gender-specific care in rural communities.
Author(s): Elizabeth Brooks, Nancy K. Dailey, Byron D. Bair, Jay H. Shore
Citation: Military Medicine, 181(9), 976-981
Date: 09/2016
Type: Document
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Abstinence Reinforcement Therapy (ART) for Rural Veterans: Methodology for an mHealth Smoking Cessation Intervention
Determines the effectiveness of Abstinence Reinforcement Therapy (ART), a smoking cessation intervention, among rural veterans. ART combines evidenced-based cognitive-behavioral telephone counseling (TC), a telemedicine clinic for access to nicotine replacement (NRT), and mobile contingency management (mCM) compared to TC and NRT alone.
Author(s): Sarah M. Wilson, Lauren P. Hair, Jeffery S. Hertzberg, et al.
Citation: Contemporary Clinical Trials, 50, 157-165
Date: 09/2016
Type: Document
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Patient, Hospital, and Local Health System Characteristics Associated With the Use of Observation Stays in Veterans Health Administration Hospitals, 2005 to 2012
Analyzes patient, hospital, and local healthcare system characteristics to determine the extent of their influence on the variation in the length of observation stays in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals. Includes breakdowns by Rural Urban Community Area (RUCA) categories.
Author(s): Brad Wright, Amy M.J. O'Shea, Justin M. Glasgow, Padmaja Ayyagari, Mary Vaughan-Sarrazin
Citation: Medicine (Baltimore), 95(36), e4802
Date: 09/2016
Type: Document
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Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee Letter of Recommendations to Secretary, 2016
Details the recommendations of the Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Makes recommendations about the response time from the VA, reimbursement delays for non-VA providers, utilization of telehealth, and the implementation of quality care standards, among others.
Author(s): Margaret Puccinelli, Janice Casillas, Syreeta Long, et al.
Date: 08/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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Home-Based Cardiac Care for Rural Veterans
Video describing the Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Focuses on individualized care for rural veterans through cardiac telehealth. This program allows for one-on-one care for patients who cannot come for traditional clinic rehab appointments due to geographic isolation, transportation challenges, or other impediments.
Date: 08/2016
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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Commission on Care: Final Report
Provides a comprehensive examination of how to best organize the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), allocate funding support, and deliver healthcare to veterans in a variety of settings and geographic locations, including rural areas. The Commission on Care was established by the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to examine access to healthcare for veterans.
Date: 06/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commission on Care
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