Rural Health Disparities – Resources

The Impact of Health Disparities on the Subjective Well-Being in Rural Communities
Examines the effects of health, socioeconomic, and spatial indicators on well-being and happiness in rural areas/countryside and rural towns. Utilizes North Central Region (NCR)-Stat: Baseline Survey 2022 data to analyze well-being according to physical and mental health status, insurance status, income, work status, education level, and marital status.
Author(s): Zuzana Bednarik
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
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2023 Rural-Urban Disparities in Health Care in Medicare
Examines rural/urban differences in the quality of healthcare received by Medicare beneficiaries in 2022, with breakdowns by race and ethnicity. Focuses on patient experience and clinical care measures, including screening for and management of health conditions, medication-related issues, and access to and availability of care.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, RAND Corporation
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Distance as a Barrier to HIV Testing Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations in the Rural Southern Us: A Cross-sectional Study
Explores the role distance plays in access to HIV testing for gay, transgender, and gender non-conforming people in the rural southern U.S. Breaks down data by age, race, and distance traveled to receive care, among other measures.
Author(s): Alyssa Clausen, Rob B Stephenson, Patrick S Sullivan, et al.
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 23(4), 8227
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
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Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities And Fatality Rate by Sub-Categories Through June 2023
Presents projections of traffic fatalities and the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for the first half of 2023. Breaks down data by month, age, race, and by rural versus urban roads, among other measures. Compares 2022 fatality data to 2023 rates by month for a number of indicators, including rural areas.
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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Impact of Geography and Rurality on Preconception Health Status in the United States
Examines preconception health risk and disparities in women aged 18 to 44 years according to health factors, health behaviors, and sociodemographics. Utilizes 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data to assess for preconception health risk with results broken down by race, age, education, insurance status, income, rural versus urban, and regional location.
Author(s): Madison D. Haiman, Catherine Cubbin
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 20
Date: 11/2023
Type: Document
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Rural Health: Addressing Barriers to Care
An infographic that presents data on rural versus urban health disparities and barriers to healthcare in rural America. Includes interactive data on percentage of rural residents by state, rural life expectancy and chronic health conditions, hospital closures and lack of access to healthcare, rural workforce shortages, and more. Provides strategies to improve rural access to healthcare.
Author(s): Carrie Cochran-McClain
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: National Institute for Health Care Management, National Rural Health Association
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The Role of Comorbidities, Medications, and Social Determinants of Health in Understanding Urban-Rural Outcome Differences among Patients with Heart Failure
Analyzes health outcomes for patients with heart failure and mitigating factors such as comorbidities, guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), and social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural versus urban areas. Utilizes data from Medicare beneficiaries who had a heart failure hospitalization between 2008 to 2017 to observe mortality rates within 30 days or 1 year, hospital readmission rates, and emergency room (ER) admissions. Discusses health outcome disparities that correlate to patient location.
Author(s): Emily P. Zeitler, Joanna Joly, Christopher G. Leggett, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
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Rural-Urban Disparities in Health Outcomes, Clinical Care, Health Behaviors, and Social Determinants of Health and an Action-Oriented, Dynamic Tool for Visualizing Them
Examines county-level disparities in rural and urban health outcomes and presents a health equity dashboard depicting the disparities. Utilizes 2015 and 2019 County Health Rankings datasets to analyze measures such as health outcomes, clinical care, health behaviors, physical environment, and social and economic factors according to urban, suburban, and rural location.
Author(s): William B. Weeks, Ji E. Chang, José A. Pagán, et al.
Citation: PLOS Global Public Health, 3(10)
Date: 10/2023
Type: Document
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Assessing Access to Digital Services in Health Care–Underserved Communities in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study
Grouped 3108 counties in the contiguous U.S. based on their access to broadband, access to healthcare, and social vulnerability. Discusses trends in rural counties and regions of the country within these groups and makes recommendations to decrease the digital divide.
Author(s): Diego F. Cuadros, Claudia M. Moreno, F. DeWolfe Miller, Ryosuke Omori, Neil J. MacKinnon
Citation: Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, 1(3), 217-225
Date: 09/2023
Type: Document
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Using Wastewater to Overcome Health Disparities among Rural Residents
Highlights health disparities in rural America and the potential for wastewater surveillance as a tool to address disparities. Discusses the use of wastewater surveillance during COVID-19 and in under-resourced locations in South Africa.
Author(s): Rochelle H. Holm, Gina Pocock, Marie A. Severson, et al.
Citation: Geoforum, 144, 103816
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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