Topics: Black or African American

Staving Off One’s Mortality: Rural Kidney Health and Its Disparities

For the 240,000 rural Americans with complete kidney failure, it’s likely that very few knew they even had kidney disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kidney disease is usually silent; 90% of people with kidney disease don’t know they have it. With research pointing to the high costs of kidney disease for pediatric and adult patients alike — mostly covered by Medicare — experts and researchers discuss rural disparities around access to disease-stabilizing treatment and to renal replacement therapies.

Kim Barber Tieman, program director for health and human services for the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, shares how her foundation set up a COVID-19 grant capture team and funded grant writers to help organizations navigate and apply for federal funding opportunities. In addition, her foundation worked with organizations and funded three mobile COVID testing units to better reach communities of color.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) can offer flexible financing options, but many operate at full capacity and there is a general lack of awareness of these institutions in rural spaces. Foundation and CDFI leaders share their perspectives about the difference CDFIs can make on rural health outcomes.

Vaccination rates for rural children and adolescents are lower than for their urban counterparts. A nurse practitioner in Louisiana and a former professor in Kentucky share how they’ve increased vaccination rates in their communities.

An Alabama nonprofit organization and a North Carolina rural health district share how they leverage public funding for quality improvement and rural network development activities that provide unique patient education opportunities for chronic disease prevention and self-management.

Tea Time with Teens is a South Carolina program that taps into the area’s traditions to lower the teen pregnancy rate. While bonding over tea with the women of the community, girls learn how to make healthy decisions and become more confident, capable leaders.

By teaching youth how to better their health and economic situation, Reverend Richard Joyner has inspired the Conetoe community to make lasting changes. Read more about how the Conetoe Family Life Center’s garden camp and partnerships with local hospitals have revolutionized the health of northeast North Carolina.

Rural Adoptions: A Different Kind of Rural Trust

Highlights three successful efforts in rural America to find adoptive homes for foster children.

Sister Anne Brooks, D.O., has provided care for the desperately poor at the Tutwiler Clinic for the last 30 years.

Update to a Rural Monitor Around the Country article featuring Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.

The Rural Monitor

Articles and resources on key rural health issues, from the Rural Health Information Hub

Topics: Black or African American

CDFIs ‘Make Dreams Come True’ by Creating Opportunity in Rural Spaces

Effective Communication and Consistency in Increasing Rural Vaccination Rates

Rural Patients with Chronic Disease: A Nonprofit Organization and a Health Department Leverage Federal Funding to Provide Health Education and Care Coordination

Over Tea, South Carolina Girls Learn about Healthy Decisions

Rural Adoptions: A Different Kind of Rural Trust

Nuns Help Desperately Poor at Mississippi Medical Clinic

Regina Benjamin