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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

Toward Optimal and Equitable Rural Health
Explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced public health and clinical care systems and infrastructure. Features discussion on rural health disparities and offers recommendations for promoting health equity and improving population health.
Author(s): Eduardo Sanchez
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1340-1341
Date: 09/2020
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The Intergenerational Cycles of Rural Health
Discusses challenges facing rural communities, including poverty, low educational attainment, poor health behaviors, and insufficient healthcare access. Explains how these factors influence one another and persist from generation to generation.
Author(s): Randy Wykoff
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1279-1280
Date: 09/2020
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Buyback Program of Unused Prescription Opioids in US Rural Communities, 2017–2018
Describes a buyback intervention that was designed to encourage rural, ambulatory surgery patients to return unused prescription opioids to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital. Provides data on patient characteristics as well as percent of opioids prescribed and returned during 2017 and 2018. Includes implications for public health.
Author(s): Jean Liu, Julie Franklin, Frank Gesek, Joseph Anderson
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1318-1324
Date: 09/2020
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Funding and Service Delivery in Rural and Urban Local US Health Departments in 2010 and 2016
Uses nationally representative data from 2010 and 2016 to explore rural/urban differences in local health department (LHD) funding and service delivery. Includes data and statistics on LHD characteristics, sources of revenue, and types of services provided by LHDs, with information broken down by rurality.
Author(s): Kate Beatty, Megan Heffernan, Nathan Hale, Michael Meit
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1293-1299
Date: 09/2020
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The State of Rural Public Health: Enduring Needs in a New Decade
Examines changes in rural/urban disparities over a 40-year period, including differences in life expectancy, social determinants of health, challenges facing local health departments (LHDs), and more. Discusses factors contributing to disparities and provides recommendations to support LHDs and improve public health in rural communities. Supplement contains figures depicting county-level data on life expectancy at birth as well as rural/urban differences in spending at LHDs and transfers to local governments.
Additional links: Supplement
Author(s): Jonathon Leider, Michael Meit, J. Mac McCullough, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1283-1290
Date: 09/2020
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COVID-19 Reveals Emerging Opportunities for Rural Public Health
Explores potential and existing public health innovations that rural communities can implement to address challenges brought on or exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, including lack of funding for local health departments, insufficient broadband, and more. Describes the expansion of telehealth services, discusses rural/urban disparities, and offers recommendations for improvement.
Author(s): Angela Dearinger
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1277-1278
Date: 09/2020
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A Public Health Lens on Rural Health
Presents an overview of an American Journal of Public Health issue that explores rural health matters within the framework of public health. Summarizes topics covered in the articles, including rural/urban disparities, shifts in funding sources for local health departments, implementation of telemedicine and mobile clinics, opioid use disorder, and more.
Author(s): Paul Erwin, Wendy Braund
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1275-1276
Date: 09/2020
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Telehealth Availability in US Hospitals in the Face of the COVID‐19 Pandemic
Highlights a study on hospital readiness and capability to provide healthcare services via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discusses the factors that affect telehealth capability and compares hospitals in rural and urban areas and by census region.
Author(s): Neeraj A. Puro, Scott Feyereisen
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 36(4), 577-583
Date: 09/2020
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High-Volume Invasive, Therapeutic Ambulatory Surgeries Performed in Hospital-Owned Facilities, 2016
Examines the 20 most common major ambulatory surgeries performed in hospital-owned facilities. Provides data by select patient and hospital characteristics, including urban-rural hospital location.
Author(s): Zeynal Karaca, Kimberly W. McDermott
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Assessing Your Leadership Competencies
Provides links to leadership resources for staff at rural healthcare organizations. Covers communication and relationship management, leadership, professionalism, knowledge of the health care environment and business skills.
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Value
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