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Community Vitality and Rural Healthcare – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Community Vitality and Rural Healthcare.

2021 Impact Report: Measuring the Economic and Human Impact of Nonprofit Organizations in Rural America
Highlights key federal programs that support affordable housing and community infrastructure, including water and wastewater disposal. Features successful rural housing programs, describing their work and impact, including health-related improvements and services.
Date: 12/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Housing Coalition
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Rural Development and Rural Health Practices: Trends and Opportunities for Alignment
Issue brief examining the fields of rural economic development and rural public health and healthcare, highlighting positive changes brought about by collaborations between these fields and potentials for rural prosperity. Discusses community asset-based rural development, organized efforts to respond to health challenges, data-driven decision making, and more.
Author(s): Brian Dabson, Victoria Faust
Date: 11/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
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Capturing Shared Impacts of the Partners for Rural Transformation: Advancing Rural Prosperity
Research report detailing how the 6 member institutions of the Partners for Rural Transformation are working to make progress toward and meet their shared goals, and lays out a framework for measuring future shared impacts and an agenda for action to build on successes. Includes a section on progress toward economic mobility, racial justice, and health equity.
Author(s): Corianne Payton Scally, Brett Theodos, Yipeng Su, et al.
Date: 10/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
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Affordability and Availability: Expanding Broadband in the Black Rural South
Report examining broadband access in African American communities in the rural South. Highlights economic, healthcare, and educational opportunities that accompany broadband access. Discusses financial and policy barriers to broadband access in the Black rural South and offers policy recommendations to increase access.
Author(s): Dominique Harrison
Date: 10/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
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Reenvisioning Rural America
Examines census tracts designated as micropolitan, small town, and isolated rural by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) code system, offering a typology of tracts based on assets and strengths. Organizes rural census tracts into categories including accessible, energy-rich hubs; high-employment agricultural areas; centers of wealth and health; and more. Includes a data map with information on each category of rural census tract and population, government, and geographic information for each tract.
Date: 09/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
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Data Show U.S. Poverty Rates in 2019 Higher in Rural Areas than in Urban for Racial/Ethnic Groups
Bar chart comparing rural and urban percentages of residents living in poverty in 2019, broken down by race/ethnicity based on data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, and the 2019 American Community Survey.
Date: 08/2021
Type: Chart/Graph
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Redefining Rural: What Rural Prosperity and the Geography of Newly Affluent Rural Communities Tells Us About Rural Development
Examines rural prosperity data and changes for counties that grew in, maintained, or slipped in prosperity from 2000 to 2018, using American Community Survey (ACS) and U.S. Census Bureau data. Offers tables breaking down prosperity according to rates of high school degree holders, poverty rate, employment, housing vacancy, and income, including comparisons between rural and non-rural counties. Presents a case study analysis on rural prosperity in Texas.
Author(s): Kennedy O'Dell
Date: 08/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Economic Innovation Group
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Three Simple Ways for Funders to Make Their Rural Work Authentic
Blog post describing ways that foundations can improve rural philanthropy, highlighting the importance of hiring rural staff, working with firms that have rural experience, and employing a rural equity lens in day-to-day operations.
Author(s): Allen Smart
Date: 07/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Family Philanthropy
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Broadband Task Force: High-Speed Internet is Essential for All Counties
Offers policy recommendations and best practices related to broadband infrastructure, including expansion into rural areas. Discusses broadband technology, community partnerships, and policy considerations. Presents case studies of county-level initiatives and a list of broadband solutions by county in the appendix.
Date: 07/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Counties
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Examining Opportunities for Growth and Investment in Rural America
Video recording of testimony from rural healthcare and economic organization leadership to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. Discusses broadband and telehealth, COVID-19 impacts on rural healthcare and economics, education, infrastructure, aging, and agriculture business issues. Transcript available in the video description.
Additional links: Testimony Transcripts
Date: 06/2021
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House Committee on Agriculture
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Last Updated: 4/19/2024