Rural Health Disparities – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Health Disparities.
Streamlining Research Access
Features an interview with Per Ostmo, Program Director of the Rural Health Research Gateway. Discusses the mission of the Gateway and highlights some of the research projects rural health research centers (RHRCs) have undertaken. Highlights some challenges facing rural healthcare delivery and points to some conclusions drawn from RHRC research.
Date: 11/2022
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Physician Publishing, Inc.
view details
Features an interview with Per Ostmo, Program Director of the Rural Health Research Gateway. Discusses the mission of the Gateway and highlights some of the research projects rural health research centers (RHRCs) have undertaken. Highlights some challenges facing rural healthcare delivery and points to some conclusions drawn from RHRC research.
Date: 11/2022
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Physician Publishing, Inc.
view details
Health, Work, and Care in Rural America
Report examining rural access to paid leave from work, the economic impacts of limited access to paid leave, and distances to hospital-based and skilled nursing care. Offers a broad view of rural economic and health dynamics, travel burdens to access hospital-based care, and presents policy recommendations to address paid leave as a social determinant of health.
Author(s): Vicki Shabo, Hannah Friedman
Date: 11/2022
Sponsoring organization: New America
view details
Report examining rural access to paid leave from work, the economic impacts of limited access to paid leave, and distances to hospital-based and skilled nursing care. Offers a broad view of rural economic and health dynamics, travel burdens to access hospital-based care, and presents policy recommendations to address paid leave as a social determinant of health.
Author(s): Vicki Shabo, Hannah Friedman
Date: 11/2022
Sponsoring organization: New America
view details
QuickStats: Age-Adjusted Death Rates for Stroke Among Adults Aged ≥ 65 Years, by Region and Metropolitan Status — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2020
Bar chart showing stroke death rates among adults 65 and older, overall and for metropolitan and nonmetro areas. Includes data for the U.S. as a whole as well as by region for the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(43), 1386
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Bar chart showing stroke death rates among adults 65 and older, overall and for metropolitan and nonmetro areas. Includes data for the U.S. as a whole as well as by region for the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(43), 1386
Date: 10/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Rural and Urban Women Have Differing Sexual and Reproductive Health Experiences
Explores the healthcare disparities women aged 15 to 49 experience related to sexual and reproductive health. Analyzes 2015-2019 data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to investigate contraceptive use in 1,128 rural residents and 6,007 urban residents. Includes rural versus urban demographic breakdowns according to race/ethnicity, nativity, income, education, LGB+ identity, and history of/plans for having children.
Author(s): Emma Pliskin, Kate Welti, Jennifer Manlove
Date: 09/2022
Sponsoring organization: Child Trends
view details
Explores the healthcare disparities women aged 15 to 49 experience related to sexual and reproductive health. Analyzes 2015-2019 data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to investigate contraceptive use in 1,128 rural residents and 6,007 urban residents. Includes rural versus urban demographic breakdowns according to race/ethnicity, nativity, income, education, LGB+ identity, and history of/plans for having children.
Author(s): Emma Pliskin, Kate Welti, Jennifer Manlove
Date: 09/2022
Sponsoring organization: Child Trends
view details
Inequities in Availability of Evidence-Based Birth Supports to Improve Perinatal Health for Socially Vulnerable Rural Residents
Examines the social risk factors rural residents face related to maternal and infant mortality. Utilizes data from 285 rural hospitals across the United States that have inpatient birthing centers to measure the availability of maternal and postpartum supports such as breastfeeding support groups, nurse home visiting, childbirth education classes, and more. Evaluates each hospital's social vulnerability index (SVI) on the county-level to determine the level of birth support inequities in rural areas and for residents who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
Author(s): Bridget Basile Ibrahim, Julia D. Interrante, Alyssa H. Fritz, Mariana S. Tuttle, Katy Backes Kozhimannil
Citation: Children, 9(7), 1077
Date: 07/2022
view details
Examines the social risk factors rural residents face related to maternal and infant mortality. Utilizes data from 285 rural hospitals across the United States that have inpatient birthing centers to measure the availability of maternal and postpartum supports such as breastfeeding support groups, nurse home visiting, childbirth education classes, and more. Evaluates each hospital's social vulnerability index (SVI) on the county-level to determine the level of birth support inequities in rural areas and for residents who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
Author(s): Bridget Basile Ibrahim, Julia D. Interrante, Alyssa H. Fritz, Mariana S. Tuttle, Katy Backes Kozhimannil
Citation: Children, 9(7), 1077
Date: 07/2022
view details
Wiping Away the Tears: Addressing Increasing Death in Rural America
Examines rural mortality trends and discusses the impact of the opioid epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic, as well as rural maternal and infant mortality. Describes federally-funded efforts to address rural disparities.
Author(s): Whitney Zahnd
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Examines rural mortality trends and discusses the impact of the opioid epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic, as well as rural maternal and infant mortality. Describes federally-funded efforts to address rural disparities.
Author(s): Whitney Zahnd
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details
Advancing Health Equity in Rural America
Report examining rural health equity, covering rural economic and demographic data, disparities by rurality, race/ethnicity, and class, and examples of initiatives that aim to increase health equity in rural communities. Offers recommendations for increasing health equity through economic and policy actions.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Paula Braveman, Julia Acker, Elaine Arkin, Katrina Badger, Nicole Holm
Date: 06/2022
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
view details
Report examining rural health equity, covering rural economic and demographic data, disparities by rurality, race/ethnicity, and class, and examples of initiatives that aim to increase health equity in rural communities. Offers recommendations for increasing health equity through economic and policy actions.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Paula Braveman, Julia Acker, Elaine Arkin, Katrina Badger, Nicole Holm
Date: 06/2022
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
view details
Self-Rated Health Among Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Adults: Rural/Urban Differences
Policy brief examining differences in self-rated health by sexual orientation and rural or urban location. Includes statistics from the National Health Interview Survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the Health Information National Trends Survey.
Author(s): Hannah MacDougall, Carrie Henning-Smith, Courtney Sarkin, Gilbert Gonzales
Date: 06/2022
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
view details
Policy brief examining differences in self-rated health by sexual orientation and rural or urban location. Includes statistics from the National Health Interview Survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the Health Information National Trends Survey.
Author(s): Hannah MacDougall, Carrie Henning-Smith, Courtney Sarkin, Gilbert Gonzales
Date: 06/2022
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
view details
Rural Children's Health and Health Care
Examines differences in child health conditions by rural and urban residency. Explores differences in use of preventive dental and medical services by poverty rate, adverse childhood experiences, overweight and obesity, food insecurity, and physical activity.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Maternal and Child Health Bureau
view details
Examines differences in child health conditions by rural and urban residency. Explores differences in use of preventive dental and medical services by poverty rate, adverse childhood experiences, overweight and obesity, food insecurity, and physical activity.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Maternal and Child Health Bureau
view details
Self-Rated Physical Health Among Working-Aged Adults Along the Rural-Urban Continuum — United States, 2021
Reports on differences in self-rated physical health among adults aged 18-64 in large urban, medium/small urban, metro-adjacent rural, and remote rural counties.
Author(s): Danielle C. Rhubart, Shannon M. Monnat
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(5), 161-166
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
view details
Reports on differences in self-rated physical health among adults aged 18-64 in large urban, medium/small urban, metro-adjacent rural, and remote rural counties.
Author(s): Danielle C. Rhubart, Shannon M. Monnat
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(5), 161-166
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
view details
Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:

