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Conducting Rural Health Research, Needs Assessment, and Program Evaluation – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Conducting Rural Health Research, Needs Assessment, and Program Evaluation.

How Does the Definition of "Rural" Impact Research?
Webinar examining research from the Rural Health Research Centers, highlighting the importance of rural definitions and how those definitions impact research. Offers advice for what researchers should take into account when determining rural definitions for a study, and what non-researchers should look for in rural definitions when reading a study or brief.
Additional links: Slide Deck, Transcript
Author(s): Janice Probst, George Pink
Date: 11/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Cross-Cultural Understanding and Cultural Humility: Training for Early Childhood Researchers Working with American Indian and Alaska Native Communities
Training materials to help early childhood research staff develop the skills needed to work respectfully with American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) communities as partners in ethical research. Includes facilitator materials, training modules, and handouts.
Date: 10/2023
Type: Tutorial/Training
Sponsoring organization: Administration for Children and Families
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Connecting Minority-Serving Institutions and Rural Research
Discusses minority serving institutions (MSI) and their role in rural research. Highlights rural-focused research systems, research of MSIs, and opportunities for integration of the two.
Author(s): Marjory Givens, Brian Dabson, Hilary Joyner, Olivia Little
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
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Development and Evaluation of the Delivery-Based HEALED Produce Rx Program for Uninsured Patients With Diabetes in Rural Eastern North Carolina
A program evaluation brief that provides an overview of the Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle to Enhance Diabetes management (HEALED) program that surveyed patients in 2019 and then delivered plant-based foods to 40 participants as a part of a produce prescription (PRx) program in 2021. Reports on how PRx programs and related resources such as cooking instructions can positively impact diabetes patients. Discusses the importance of performing a needs assessment, pilot programming, and a formative evaluation in rural and underserved programs to remove food access barriers such as lack of transportation and involve participants in their own wellness journeys.
Author(s): Lauren R. Sastre, Brandon Stroud, Elisa Smith, Khadijah Hendrix, Olivia McBride
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 20
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
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Building Trust and Visibility Through Community-Based Participatory Research At Rural Minority-Serving Institutions
Examines some of the driving forces and conditions ensuring a rural voice in design and action, the alignment of rural fields and actors, and an accurate rural narrative. Explores rural Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and approaches to community-based participatory research that can be used to better understand MSIs' nature and practices.
Author(s): Marybeth Gasman, Alice Ginsberg, Levon T. Esters
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group
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Rural Healthy People 2030, featuring Timothy Callaghan and Morgan Kassabian
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast focused on the Rural Healthy People 2030 project, featuring Timothy Callaghan and Morgan Kassabian. Discusses the rural health priorities covered by this project and changes in rural health concerns over time. Also describes the methods used for collecting insights from rural stakeholders.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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CARE Data Principles, Indigenous Data, Data Related to Indigenous Peoples and Interest
Offers principles for ethical use of Indigenous data with focus on collective benefit, authority to control, responsibility, and ethics (CARE). Discusses implementation of CARE principles, language, and resources for learning more.
Author(s): Sarah Barsness, Jewel Cummins, Maria Victoria Fernandez, et al
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Data Curation Network
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Navigating the Ethical and Methodological Dimensions of a Farm Safety Photovoice Project
Discusses the ethical considerations of the photovoice method of participatory research with a close look at vulnerable populations, privacy considerations, power dynamics in research, and agriculture-specific concerns. Describes an agricultural health and safety photovoice project and how researchers handled these ethical concerns as the project unfolded.
Author(s): Florence A. Becot, Shoshanah M. Inwood, Elizabeth A. Buchanan
Citation: Journal of Bioethical Inquiry, 20, 249-263
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
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Wireless Substitution: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, July-December 2022
Provides data on households that rely on wireless telephones rather than landlines. Includes data on the percent of adults who live in wireless-only households and have their own wireless telephone, as well as data on phoneless adults. Provides data for nonmetropolitan compared to metropolitan areas. Discuses the need for surveys to include adequate representation of wireless-only households. Includes a section on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on data collection in 2020.
Author(s): Stephen J. Blumberg, Julian V. Luke
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Considerations for a National Drinking Water Quality Compliance Assessment
Outlines what an assessment of compliance related to safe drinking water in the United States would look like in 4 phases: quality compliance definition and identification, spatial location considerations, compliance solutions and their costs, and solution funding and gaps. Includes considerations for tribal and rural areas.
Author(s): Gregory Pierce, Laura Landes, Grace Harrison, Lena Schlichting, Lauren Dunlap
Date: 04/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Community Assistance Partnership, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
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Last Updated: 1/3/2024