Community Vitality and Rural Healthcare – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Community Vitality and Rural Healthcare.
Building Healthier Rural Communities: Economic Development Districts Address Social Determinants of Health
Report outlining social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural areas and how Economic Development Districts (EDD) address them. Highlights workforce, infrastructure, food security, health, disaster preparedness, funding, data, and public-private partnerships. Includes a case study from an EDD in North Carolina and highlights the role of hospitals in the community.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Economic Development District Community of Practice, National Association of Development Organizations
view details
Report outlining social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural areas and how Economic Development Districts (EDD) address them. Highlights workforce, infrastructure, food security, health, disaster preparedness, funding, data, and public-private partnerships. Includes a case study from an EDD in North Carolina and highlights the role of hospitals in the community.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Economic Development District Community of Practice, National Association of Development Organizations
view details
Rural Hospital Philanthropy: Community Awareness and Willingness to Donate to the Georgia Rural Hospital Tax Credit Program
Examines awareness of and willingness to participate in Georgia's Rural Hospital Tax Credit program, utilizing survey data of 940 people living in rural South Georgia communities served by eligible local hospitals. Includes data on associations between willingness to donate to rural hospitals and satisfaction with hospital quality, tax credit program awareness, and demographic factors such as household income and educational attainment. Discusses philanthropy as a source of financial support for rural hospitals.
Author(s): Linda Kimsey, Bettye A. Apenteng, Samuel T. Opoku, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 25, 980
Date: 07/2025
view details
Examines awareness of and willingness to participate in Georgia's Rural Hospital Tax Credit program, utilizing survey data of 940 people living in rural South Georgia communities served by eligible local hospitals. Includes data on associations between willingness to donate to rural hospitals and satisfaction with hospital quality, tax credit program awareness, and demographic factors such as household income and educational attainment. Discusses philanthropy as a source of financial support for rural hospitals.
Author(s): Linda Kimsey, Bettye A. Apenteng, Samuel T. Opoku, et al.
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 25, 980
Date: 07/2025
view details
Community Development in Rural Health Toolkit
A toolkit that provides local strategies, planning resources, assessment tools, evidence-based models, templates, and case studies related to rural health community development. Focuses on 5 key theories of rural community health development: social capital, asset-based community development, appreciative inquiry, participatory development, and collective impact model.
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
view details
A toolkit that provides local strategies, planning resources, assessment tools, evidence-based models, templates, and case studies related to rural health community development. Focuses on 5 key theories of rural community health development: social capital, asset-based community development, appreciative inquiry, participatory development, and collective impact model.
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
view details
How Should Rural EMS Funding Streams Be Improved?
Discusses the need and mechanisms for funding rural EMS systems more robustly. Offers suggestions for finding funding and discusses the decline in volunteerism.
Author(s): James Small
Citation: AMA Journal of Ethics, 27(7), E518-524
Date: 07/2025
view details
Discusses the need and mechanisms for funding rural EMS systems more robustly. Offers suggestions for finding funding and discusses the decline in volunteerism.
Author(s): James Small
Citation: AMA Journal of Ethics, 27(7), E518-524
Date: 07/2025
view details
County Economic Status in Appalachia, FY 2026
Shows levels of economic distress in Appalachian counties based on unemployment rates, income, and poverty levels. Includes interactive map, downloadable maps and data files, and data report.
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: Appalachian Regional Commission
view details
Shows levels of economic distress in Appalachian counties based on unemployment rates, income, and poverty levels. Includes interactive map, downloadable maps and data files, and data report.
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: Appalachian Regional Commission
view details
As Rural Populations Grow Older, Communities Increasingly Rely on Smaller Labor Force
Reports on rural-urban differences in labor force availability and age dependency ratios caused by the growing demographic share of older people in the U.S. Breaks down data by county-level rurality, and discusses rural infrastructure, healthcare, and caregiving needs.
Author(s): Richelle L. Winkler
Citation: Amber Waves
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
view details
Reports on rural-urban differences in labor force availability and age dependency ratios caused by the growing demographic share of older people in the U.S. Breaks down data by county-level rurality, and discusses rural infrastructure, healthcare, and caregiving needs.
Author(s): Richelle L. Winkler
Citation: Amber Waves
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
view details
Impact of Hospital Closure on Rural Communities: A Qualitative Study
Examines the impact of rural hospital closure on access to care, and identifies ways that rural communities adapt to hospital closures. Utilizes interview excerpts from 25 informants examining themes related to pre-closure conditions, impacts on communities and health systems, and actions by communities, states, health systems, and emergency medical services.
Author(s): Redwan Bin Abdul Baten, Mina Shrestha, Fred Ullrich, Whitney Zahnd, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
Examines the impact of rural hospital closure on access to care, and identifies ways that rural communities adapt to hospital closures. Utilizes interview excerpts from 25 informants examining themes related to pre-closure conditions, impacts on communities and health systems, and actions by communities, states, health systems, and emergency medical services.
Author(s): Redwan Bin Abdul Baten, Mina Shrestha, Fred Ullrich, Whitney Zahnd, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 05/2025
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
A Guide to Working with Rural Philanthropy
Strategies for rural communities and organizations to help build and sustain partnerships with philanthropies. Includes background information on rural philanthropy and identifies actions and characteristics that may make a program successful in seeking funding from a philanthropy that wants to invest in rural health.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organizations: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Strategies for rural communities and organizations to help build and sustain partnerships with philanthropies. Includes background information on rural philanthropy and identifies actions and characteristics that may make a program successful in seeking funding from a philanthropy that wants to invest in rural health.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organizations: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, Rural Health Information Hub
view details
An Examination of the Implementation and Effectiveness of the Telehealth Broadband Pilot Program in the United States
Provides a brief overview of the Telehealth Broadband Pilot (TBP) Program, which aimed to address gaps in broadband service that limited access to telehealth services in rural and underserved communities in Alaska, Michigan, Texas, and West Virginia. Describes the development and implementation of pods that measured broadband data in the communities over time. Summarizes discussions with TBP Program staff regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the program. Includes factors for consideration in the development of future programs to measure broadband in rural communities.
Date: 01/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Telehealth Evaluation Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Regional Campuses
view details
Provides a brief overview of the Telehealth Broadband Pilot (TBP) Program, which aimed to address gaps in broadband service that limited access to telehealth services in rural and underserved communities in Alaska, Michigan, Texas, and West Virginia. Describes the development and implementation of pods that measured broadband data in the communities over time. Summarizes discussions with TBP Program staff regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the program. Includes factors for consideration in the development of future programs to measure broadband in rural communities.
Date: 01/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Telehealth Evaluation Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Regional Campuses
view details
Federal Assistance and Rural Hospital Closings: The Impact of the USDA Community Facilities Program
Examines how the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities (CF) Program's effects on rural hospital closures. Includes data on rural hospital closures and CF investments by region, and analyzes facility survival probability of hospitals which did or did not receive CF funding.
Additional links: Summary
Author(s): Anil Rupasingha, Julia Cho
Date: 01/2025
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
view details
Examines how the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities (CF) Program's effects on rural hospital closures. Includes data on rural hospital closures and CF investments by region, and analyzes facility survival probability of hospitals which did or did not receive CF funding.
Additional links: Summary
Author(s): Anil Rupasingha, Julia Cho
Date: 01/2025
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
view details
Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:
Last Updated: 9/25/2025