Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document
A Comparative Analysis of Job Satisfaction and Intent to Leave Among Rural and Urban Caseworkers in Pennsylvania's Child Welfare Agencies
Findings from a survey of Pennsylvania child welfare caseworkers, identifying factors influencing job satisfaction, performance, and intent to leave. Recommends changes at the agency level and state-level policy changes related to child welfare caseworker workload, salaries, and funding. Features statistics including staff turnover from 2019-2023 with breakdowns by urban and rural areas, and reported cases of child abuse in 2023 with breakdowns by county.
Additional links: Legislative Brief
Author(s): Yoon Mi Kim, George Kovarie, Soohyoung Rain Lee
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Findings from a survey of Pennsylvania child welfare caseworkers, identifying factors influencing job satisfaction, performance, and intent to leave. Recommends changes at the agency level and state-level policy changes related to child welfare caseworker workload, salaries, and funding. Features statistics including staff turnover from 2019-2023 with breakdowns by urban and rural areas, and reported cases of child abuse in 2023 with breakdowns by county.
Additional links: Legislative Brief
Author(s): Yoon Mi Kim, George Kovarie, Soohyoung Rain Lee
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2026
Evaluates Medicare payment issues and provides recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Covers payment incentives in Medicare, the complexity of Medicare enrollment decisions for beneficiaries, Medicare payment operations and their role in identifying improper payments, the estimated association between Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment and hospitals' and post-acute care providers' finances, and access to hospice and certain complex palliative services for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease or cancer. Includes a mandated report regarding the Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Evaluates Medicare payment issues and provides recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Covers payment incentives in Medicare, the complexity of Medicare enrollment decisions for beneficiaries, Medicare payment operations and their role in identifying improper payments, the estimated association between Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment and hospitals' and post-acute care providers' finances, and access to hospice and certain complex palliative services for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease or cancer. Includes a mandated report regarding the Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Advancing Behavioral Health Integration in Community Health Centers: Policy Pathways to Whole Person Care
Explores how high-performing community health centers (CHCs) implement behavioral health integration as well as the policy and financing factors that influence these efforts. Summarizes interviews with leaders from 10 CHCs and six experts on Medicaid, payment reform, and community-based care. Discusses the state of behavioral health integration in CHCs nationwide and the impact of integration across patient populations. Offers policy recommendations to strengthen and sustain behavioral health integration within CHCs.
Author(s): Erin Prendergast, Amy Flowers, Peter Shin
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organizations: Commonwealth Fund, National Association of Community Health Centers
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Explores how high-performing community health centers (CHCs) implement behavioral health integration as well as the policy and financing factors that influence these efforts. Summarizes interviews with leaders from 10 CHCs and six experts on Medicaid, payment reform, and community-based care. Discusses the state of behavioral health integration in CHCs nationwide and the impact of integration across patient populations. Offers policy recommendations to strengthen and sustain behavioral health integration within CHCs.
Author(s): Erin Prendergast, Amy Flowers, Peter Shin
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organizations: Commonwealth Fund, National Association of Community Health Centers
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Highlights from 2026 U.S. Cancer Statistics
Highlights age-adjusted data on cancer incidence using U.S. Cancer Statistics data. Includes rural-urban comparisons, including rural and urban cancer incidence breakdowns by demographic group.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Highlights age-adjusted data on cancer incidence using U.S. Cancer Statistics data. Includes rural-urban comparisons, including rural and urban cancer incidence breakdowns by demographic group.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP, June 2026
Semi-annual report to Congress from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). Covers recommendations related to community engagement (CE) requirements in Medicaid, automation in prior authorization, Medicaid managed care accountability, appropriate access to residential treatment services for Medicaid-enrolled youth, transitions to adult Medicaid coverage for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), and provider enrollment and credentialing in Medicaid. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Semi-annual report to Congress from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC). Covers recommendations related to community engagement (CE) requirements in Medicaid, automation in prior authorization, Medicaid managed care accountability, appropriate access to residential treatment services for Medicaid-enrolled youth, transitions to adult Medicaid coverage for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), and provider enrollment and credentialing in Medicaid. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Local Facilitators Lead the Way in Stigma Reduction
Discusses how rural community members have led Community Conversations on Opioid Use Disorder workshops addressing substance use disorder stigma via training from the UR Medicine Recovery Center for Excellence. Highlights impacts of the Community Conversations series and strategies for effective training and collaboration.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: University of Rochester Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence
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Discusses how rural community members have led Community Conversations on Opioid Use Disorder workshops addressing substance use disorder stigma via training from the UR Medicine Recovery Center for Excellence. Highlights impacts of the Community Conversations series and strategies for effective training and collaboration.
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: University of Rochester Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence
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Virginia Rural Obstetrical Workforce
Offers maps and tables of the obstetricians and advanced practice midwives workforce distribution in Virginia in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): S.C. Woolcock, C.H.A. Andrilla, L.A. Garberson, J.M. Graves
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Offers maps and tables of the obstetricians and advanced practice midwives workforce distribution in Virginia in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): S.C. Woolcock, C.H.A. Andrilla, L.A. Garberson, J.M. Graves
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Virginia Rural Behavioral Health Workforce
Offers maps and tables of the supply and distribution of behavioral health clinicians in Virginia in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): S.C. Woolcock, C.H.A. Andrilla, L.A. Garberson, J.M. Graves
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Offers maps and tables of the supply and distribution of behavioral health clinicians in Virginia in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): S.C. Woolcock, C.H.A. Andrilla, L.A. Garberson, J.M. Graves
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Virginia Rural Primary Care Workforce
Offers maps and tables of the primary care workforce distribution in Virginia in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): S.C. Woolcock, C.H.A. Andrilla, L.A. Garberson, J.M. Graves
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Offers maps and tables of the primary care workforce distribution in Virginia in 2025. Includes county-level data and rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): S.C. Woolcock, C.H.A. Andrilla, L.A. Garberson, J.M. Graves
Date: 06/2026
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Timely Adjuvant Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer: Barriers and Facilitators in Rural Care
Examines initiation delays of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) following surgery in rural patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Utilizes qualitative data from patients, caregivers, and staff at 2 rural New England cancer center clinics and discusses barriers and facilitators of PORT, such as communication, caregiver support, healthcare access, leveraging rural resources and culture, and more.
Author(s): Garrett T. Wasp, Shahed Khudaier, Olivia Siroonian, et al.
Citation: JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, 152(6), 569-577
Date: 06/2026
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Examines initiation delays of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) following surgery in rural patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Utilizes qualitative data from patients, caregivers, and staff at 2 rural New England cancer center clinics and discusses barriers and facilitators of PORT, such as communication, caregiver support, healthcare access, leveraging rural resources and culture, and more.
Author(s): Garrett T. Wasp, Shahed Khudaier, Olivia Siroonian, et al.
Citation: JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, 152(6), 569-577
Date: 06/2026
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