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Social Determinants of Health for Rural People – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Social Determinants of Health for Rural People.

Rural Young Women Show Increases in Higher Educational Attainment Compared to Rural Young Men
Stacked bar charts showing educational attainment for young women (age 25-34) in 1990 and 2020 and for young men (age 25-34) in 1990 and 2020.
Date: 10/2022
Type: Chart/Graph
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Impact of Social Vulnerability on Comorbid Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in the United States
Examines racial and social disparities as related to cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Utilizes 2015-2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) database to analyze mortality rates and 2014-2018 data from the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to estimate the respective county-level social vulnerability index (SVI). Includes demographic breakdowns of mortality rates according to age, sex, race/ethnicity, and large metropolitan, medium small metropolitan, or micropolitan/noncore (nonmetropolitan) location.
Author(s): Sarju Ganatra, Sourbha S. Dani, Ashish Kumar, et al.
Citation: Journal of American College of Cardiology: CardioOncology, 4(3), 326-337
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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Landscape of Area-Level Deprivation Measures and Other Approaches to Account for Social Risk and Social Determinants of Health in Health Care Payments
Examines social determinants of health (SDOH) at the community level and their impact on health-related social needs (HRSNs) of the individual. Discusses how policies related to federal payment systems can incentivize screening for HRSNs as well as referrals to appropriate social and behavioral services. Provides an environmental scan of what measures can be used to provide accountability for funding and policy efforts targeted at SDOH. Includes an appendix that defines and describes indices of social risk, such as the social vulnerability index (SVI) and area deprivation index (ADI), as well as payment models that include measures of social risk.
Author(s): Joshua Breslau, Laurie Martin, Justin Timbie, Nabeel Qureshi, Deborah Zajdman
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RAND Corporation
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Consumer Finances in Rural Appalachia
Describes the financial needs and challenges of consumers in rural Appalachia. Features sections on consumer finance profiles, including a section on medical debt, and consumer distress and delinquencies. Appendix A includes state-level statistics for the 13 Appalachian states, including percent of rural people with medical debt in the state.
Author(s): Matthew Liu, Cooper Luce, Michael Orevba, Shawn Sebastian, Cortnie Shupe
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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QuickStats: Percentage of Children and Adolescents Aged 6–17 Years Who Have Roads, Sidewalks, Paths, or Trails Where They Can Walk or Ride a Bicycle, by Urban-Rural Status and Family Income — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2020
Bar chart showing children's access to locations where they can walk or ride a bicycle. Provides data for rural and urban neighborhoods for families with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level and for families with incomes at or above 200% of the federal poverty level.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(35), 1136
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Rx for the Rural Healthcare Workforce and Access to Care
Podcast with Tom Morris of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy about trends related to the rural healthcare workforce and efforts to overcome challenges. Discusses the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, rural hospital closures, telehealth, graduate medical education in rural areas, community health workers and community paramedics, funding opportunities to promote healthcare access in rural areas, the opioid crisis, and more.
Author(s): Jessica Nicholson
Date: 05/2022
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: The Conference Board
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The Justice Gap: The Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income Americans
Reports on civil legal needs experienced by low-income Americans who do not seek professional legal help and the paths they take when facing civil legal problems. Includes information on legal needs related to healthcare access and other issues that impact health, such as housing and COVID-19. Provides details for specific groups, including rural residents, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, parents of children under 18, and domestic violence survivors.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Full Report, Special Focus Rural
Date: 04/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Legal Services Corporation
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Addressing Social Determinants of Health: Examples of Successful Evidence-Based Strategies and Current Federal Efforts
Provides an overview of efforts to address social determinants of health (SDOH) that impact people of color, LGBTQ+ persons, individuals living in rural areas, and people with disabilities. Discusses housing, food and nutrition, transportation, social and economic mobility, and social service connections in terms of community (upstream) and individual (downstream) SDOH impacts.
Author(s): Amelia Whitman, Nancy De Lew, Andre Chappel, et al.
Date: 04/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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A Critical Review on the Complex Interplay between Social Determinants of Health and Maternal and Infant Mortality
Reports on a critical review of maternal and infant mortality literature to observe how social determinants of health relate to health disparities for mothers and babies of racial/ethnic minorities, less privileged socioeconomic statuses, and rural geographies. Includes discussion about rural versus urban differences in maternal and infant mortality.
Author(s): Rada K. Dagher, Deborah E. Linares
Citation: Children, 9(3), 394
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
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Data Elements for Research on the Role of Social Determinants of Health in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection and Outcomes in the U.S.
Reviews 27 studies published between December 2019 and August 2021 to explore how social determinants of health (SDOH) are related to outcomes of COVID-19. Focuses on modifiable SDOH such as income, housing, health insurance status, and food insecurity, among others. Examines rural and urban settings in data analysis as possible predictors of COVID-19 outcomes.
Author(s): Katherine K. Kim, Hibah K. Qudsi, Heather M. Halter, et al.
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Last Updated: 4/12/2024