Topics: Chronic disease management

For more information and resources, see the Chronic Disease in Rural America topic guide.

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.

A common health condition, epilepsy impacts rural populations in many ways, including the ability to drive. Medical and public health experts join an advocacy organization to review the condition’s impact and outline rural management approaches — including seizure first aid.

Essentia Health created the Remote Patient Monitoring program to allow some patients to recover at home while still having access to medical attention. Program launch was accelerated to treat COVID-19 patients, but Essentia plans to continue the program after the pandemic to treat other chronic diseases.

On the list of leading causes of death, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, impacts millions of rural Americans and their quality of life. Though limited treatments are available for COPD, research indicates that pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) provides major benefits, yet is currently under-prescribed and facing challenges from COVID-19 and from reimbursement policies. Researchers discuss the potential that tele-PR might bring to rural areas, and rural healthcare leaders highlight the benefits of their PR programs for service areas.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a condition that continues to steal rural America’s breath. Researchers, philanthropists, and healthcare professionals talk about new rural research efforts and the impact of COVID-19 on COPD. Also discussed is the importance of pulmonary rehabilitation, an impactful treatment long known to improve quality of life and now backed by new research proving it decreases death rates in select patients.

With federal funds supporting its implementation in Oklahoma’s Marshallese community, a Community Health Worker model exemplifies how culturally sensitive education can improve healthcare access, health literacy, and health outcomes.

Butler Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania received a HRSA Rural Health Care Services Outreach grant to develop a program for chronic disease patients. Partway through the grant cycle, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The hospital shares how it was able to transition its program services to an online format and develop new initiatives to address stress in the healthcare workforce and the larger community.

In the past five years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has delivered two reports to Congress concerning traumatic brain injury. Concussions, or mild traumatic brain injuries, are common. With perspectives gained from their varied roles, five experts share information on concussions in rural America.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute calculates that 3.5 million rural Americans have COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It’s also estimated that hundreds of thousands of rural Americans have the condition and don’t know it. Though it is a condition without a cure, it is a condition with hope. The COPD Foundation’s Chief Science Officer and a State Captain share how asking questions and doing spirometry can help diagnose the condition.

Chronic obstructive lung disease, or COPD, is a disease with a stronghold in rural America: almost double the prevalence and double the mortality rates compared to large urban areas. Though it is a condition with no cure, it’s a condition that has treatments — and hope — making proper diagnosis by spirometry imperative.

The Rural Monitor

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

Topics: Chronic disease management

Out of the Shadows: Reducing the Rural Impact of Epilepsy

Remote Patient Monitoring Helps Rural Patients Recover at Home

Pulmonary Rehabilitation: Benefiting Rural Individuals, Benefiting Rural Population Health

Still Stealing Rural America’s Breath: An Update on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

CHWs At Work: Making a Difference for Oklahoma’s Marshallese Community

Pennsylvania Hospital Transitions HRSA-Funded Program to Online Services and Addresses COVID-19 Stress

Concussion in Rural America: Experts Detail Injury and Recovery of Traumatic Brain Injury

Diagnosing the Rural COPD Patient: Ask About Symptoms, Use Spirometry

Office-Based Spirometry: Key to Diagnosing Rural COPD Patients