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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Veterans

Association of Rural Living With COPD-Related Hospitalizations and Deaths in Us Veterans
Highlights a study aiming to identify the cause of higher COPD rates in rural areas. Utilizes VA data to draw conclusions about incidence and access to treatment for COPD for rural veterans. Breaks down data by age, comorbidities, and rurality, among other factors.
Author(s): Spyridon Fortis, Yubo Gao, Arianne K. Baldomero, et al.
Citation: Scientific Reports, 13, 7887
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
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VA Health Care: Office of Rural Health Would Benefit from Improved Communication and Developing Performance Goals
Examines the initiatives and research projects the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Rural Health (ORH) funded in fiscal year 2022. Explores how the office communicates funding opportunities and assesses its progress toward achieving its mission. Offers recommendations to the ORH regarding communicating research funding opportunities across the Veterans Administration and developing performance goals reflective of leading practices.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Bridging The Gap CoC: Homeless Point-in-Time Count January 22, 2023
Report offering point-in-time data on the homeless population in rural Hawaii counties. Discusses trends over time for various populations including veterans, children, families, people with substance use disorder, various race and ethnicities, and more. Dashboard allows for manipulating data between 2015 and 2023. 2021 data was not gathered due to COVID-19.
Additional links: Dashboard
Date: 04/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Bridging the Gap, Ka Mana O Na Helu
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2022 Alaska Community Needs Assessment
Results of a February 2023 survey to gather household-level data on individualized, local needs in the areas of education, employment, workforce development, food security, and access to healthcare resources. Features demographics and statistics on disabilities, poverty, education level, rural housing, healthcare access, deaths of despair, substance use, and supply and demand of dental, mental health, and primary care providers.
Author(s): Daniel O'Brien
Date: 04/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc.
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Rural-Urban Trends in Health Care Utilization, Treatment, and Mortality Among US Veterans with Congestive Heart Failure: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Examines Veterans Health Administration patients between 2012 and 2017 with congestive heart failure. Data compare rural and urban differences in healthcare use, treatment received, and mortality with consideration for severity of diagnosis.
Author(s): Maya Aboumrad, David Peritz, Scott Friedman, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 39(4), 844-852
Date: 04/2023
Type: Document
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Whole Health Coaching to Rural Veterans through Telehealth: Advantages, Gaps, and Opportunities
Discusses the Whole Health (WH) initiative – a proactive practice using coaches to engage patients in their health and well-being, and its applicability through telehealth to offer support to rural Veterans in achieving their health goals. Analyzes the findings from data collected through interviews, national surveys and focus groups of WH coaches working with rural veterans to determine the advantages of using telehealth, gaps in telehealth usage, and opportunities for WH coaching for rural veterans.
Author(s): Kelsea LeBeau, Deepthi S. Varma, Consuelo M. Kreider, et al.
Citation: Frontiers in Public Health, 11
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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Deploying Digital Health Technologies for Remote Physical Activity Monitoring of Rural Populations With Chronic Neurologic Disease
Examines remote monitoring of physical activity (PA) levels of rural individuals enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration with a diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD) or stroke. Analyzes data from 40 participants broken down by demographic information, rurality, technology access, exercise self-efficacy, fatigue, mental health, and more. Discusses the feasibility of using remote monitoring to assess PA in rural individuals with neurological disease.
Author(s): Kimberly J. Waddell, Mitesh S. Patel, Jayne R. Wilkinson, et al.
Citation: Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation, 5(1)
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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Financial Burden of Medical Care Among Veterans Aged 25–64, by Health Insurance Coverage: United States, 2019–2021
Examines financial burden for medical care among veterans aged 25–64 for those with VA health care alone and combined with different types of health insurance coverage. Table 1 includes data on VA health care and health insurance coverage for those in metropolitan and nonmetro areas.
Author(s): Robin A. Cohen, Peter Boersma
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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VA Health Care: Improved Data, Planning, and Communication Needed for Infrastructure Modernization and Realignment
Describes the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recommendations to modernize and realign its infrastructure. Examines the data that the VA used to inform its recommendations, any plans that VA has to improve such data, and the extent of the VA's planning to modernize and realign its infrastructure. Discusses rural-specific recommendations and compares data on facility closure and service line change recommendations by rurality.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Rates of Primary Care and Integrated Mental Health Telemedicine Visits Between Rural and Urban Veterans Affairs Beneficiaries Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Shares the results of a study examining changes over time in rural-urban differences in telemedicine use for primary care and mental health integration services among Veterans Affairs (VA) beneficiaries. Uses data from 138 VA healthcare systems from March 2019 to December 2021. Features demographics and statistics with breakdowns by visit type and rural or urban area.
Author(s): Lucinda B. Leung, Caroline Yoo, Karen Chu, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(3)
Date: 03/2023
Type: Document
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