Topics: Health disparities

For more information and resources, see the Rural Health Disparities topic guide.

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation: Taking a Leadership Role and Building Trust

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.

Dolores E. Roybal, executive director of Con Alma Health Foundation, discusses how her foundation partnered with other funders to provide almost $2 million in grants and created an advisory committee of immigrant-led, immigrant-serving organizations to address barriers limiting access to services.

It is the most costly of chronic medical conditions. Described by some as “hidden” conditions, experts talk about the complex needs of rural Americans with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias and their caregivers.

A Federally Qualified Health Center used grant support to provide primary care oral health assessment and fluoride varnishes in 12 school-based health centers in nine Louisiana parishes, hoping to provide thousands of children with better oral health in the present as well as into adulthood.

A new diagnosis of cancer? Of a rare disease? Or a chronic medical problem with seemingly no new treatment? The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences is supporting investigators and ensuring that their cutting-edge science gets to the people who need it. Translational science teams in Arkansas, Florida and Washington are making that happen in the rural areas of their states.

Translational science is a specialized research field bringing cutting-edge science to patients that need it. Making sure rural communities are also recipients of new research, the National Center for Advancing Translational Science is a federal agency that facilitates the steps and supports the investigators who want their findings to translate into better health.

Cancer has become one of the leading causes of death for American Indian and Alaskan Native populations. In this article, a cancer researcher, foundation director, and medical professional share their models that engage these populations in cancer research, prevention, and treatment.

Dr. Donald Warne discusses health disparities among American Indians, upstream approaches to addressing those disparities, and the importance of American Indian public health.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is number 3 on the cause of death list. In rural America, it’s the sole major chronic disease with increasing death rates. In May 2017, the COPD National Action Plan, a “blueprint for a multi-faceted, unified fight against the disease” was released. Rural stakeholders share perspectives of just how rural Americans with COPD might benefit from the plan’s rural touchpoints.

Colorectal cancer stands out as a cancer with increased incidence and mortality rates in rural areas – rates that are likely influenced by lack of screening. Using different approaches, two rural healthcare organizations in Idaho and Kentucky show how they are saving lives by improving colorectal cancer screening rates in their communities.

The Rural Monitor

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

Topics: Health disparities

Con Alma Health Foundation: Health Equity and COVID Relief

Making a Difference for Generations to Come: School-Based Oral Healthcare in Louisiana

NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences: Involving Rural America in Research

Translational Science: Research with Results that Touch Rural Populations

Reducing Cancer Among Native Populations: Models for Research, Prevention, and Treatment

Addressing American Indian Health Disparities: Q&A with Dr. Don Warne

Bringing Change for Rural COPD Patients: Possibilities with the COPD National Action Plan

“Doing Something Exceptional”: Rural Communities and Colorectal Cancer Screening