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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Wellness, health promotion, and disease prevention

Rural Action Plan
Provides an overview of the rural health care and human services landscape. Outlines a Four-Point strategy to build a sustainable health and human services model for rural communities, leverage technology and innovation, focus on preventing disease and mortality, and increase rural access to care. Identifies opportunities to transform rural health and human services through federal government partnership and describes new policies and programs to implement the Four-Point Strategy. Highlights actions already taken by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support rural communities.
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Recruitment Best Practices of a Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Randomised Control Trial in Rural Alaska Native Communities
Describes the research methods of the Healthy and Empowering Alaskan Lives Towards Healthy Hearts (HEALTHH) project, which recruited participants from the 16 communities that make up the rural Norton Sound region of Alaska to study smoking behavior and chronic disease prevention efforts among Alaska Native populations. Explores special considerations for research involving remote tribal communities and analyzes data related to recruitment best practices, staffing issues, and barriers to enrolling study participants.
Author(s): Mariah Knox, Jordan Skan, Neal L. Benowitz, Matthew Schnellbaecher, Judith J. Prochaska
Citation: International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 79(1), 1806639
Date: 08/2020
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Policy Goals to Support the Healthcare Workforce in Healthy Aging Communities
Report describing a research project funded by the New Mexico Department of Health that examines behavioral healthcare workforce needs and the growing elderly population in rural Grant, Sierra, Socorro, Catron, and Valencia counties. Presents key points from discussions with project participants, including professionals in health promotion, hospital, community health centers, local government, and educational institutions. Offers policy goals related to regional services, economic planning, and expansion of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursable services.
Author(s): Susan Wilger, Anne Hayes Egan, Alexis Brandt, Micaela Imar de la Rosa
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Innovation
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2020 Nebraska Rural Poll Report - Well-Being in Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 25 Years of Trends
Reports rural Nebraskans' poll responses to questions pertaining to community attributes and personal well-being. Includes trends in respondents' perceptions of their community and well-being from 1996-2020.
Author(s): Rebecca Vogt, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, et al.
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: University of Nebraska–Lincoln
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The Alcoholic Beverage: An Elixir, and Yet a Poison?
Examines health messages related to alcohol from federal agencies and the journal literature. Features a Missouri cardiologist who reviews the science on alcohol use and its impact on health and well-being.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Alcohol Use Disorder: Addressing Stigma and Treatment Access in Rural America
Examines alcohol use and misuse in rural America. Features the work of healthcare providers in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico. Discusses stigma, treatment access, and recovery. Addresses the impact of COVID-19 on treatment access, including the use of telehealth.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — United States, 2019
Reports on vaccination coverage among U.S. adolescents by age for ages 13 through 17 and overall for 2018 and 2019. Also includes data on vaccination coverage by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan residence and poverty status. Includes nonmetro data related to the following vaccines: Tdap (tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis), MenACWY (quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate), HPV (human papillomavirus), MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and varicella.
Author(s): Laurie D. Elam-Evans, David Yankey, James A. Singleton, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(33), 1109-1116
Date: 08/2020
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Effective Community-Based Initiatives Are Needed to Curb the Opioid Crisis
Describes 6 community-research collaboratives to address the opioid crisis at the local level, including programs in St. Louis, MO, Olympia, WA, Ithaca, NY, and rural programs in Rio Arriba County, NM, western North Carolina, and tribal communities in the Midwest and the Northern Plains.
Author(s): Beth Connolly, Leslie Paulson
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Pew
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Integrating Responses to the Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Disease Epidemics
Highlights the epidemic of infectious diseases co-occurring with opioid use disorder and the need for integrated treatment. Discusses barriers. such as workforce training, payment, and data sharing, among others. Includes suggestions for rural areas.
Author(s): Sandra A. Springer, Andrew P. Merluzzi, Carlos del Rio
Citation: JAMA, 324(1), 37-38
Date: 07/2020
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Estimated County-Level Prevalence of Selected Underlying Medical Conditions Associated with Increased Risk for Severe COVID-19 Illness — United States, 2018
Reports on the estimated number and proportion of people with certain underlying medical conditions that put them at risk for severe COVID-19. Provides county-level maps with data on adults with any of these conditions: chronic respiratory conditions, heart disease, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or obesity. Also discusses the prevalence of underlying conditions in rural counties.
Author(s): Hilda Razzaghi, Yan Wang, Hua Lu, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(29), 945-950
Date: 07/2020
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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