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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Information for Rural Stakeholders About Access to Maternity and Obstetric Care: A Community-Relevant Synthesis of Research
Provides an overview of access to maternity and obstetric care in rural areas, including access to care, childbirth at rural hospitals, and rural obstetric unit closures. Summarizes research findings on healthcare quality and outcomes at low-volume obstetric units, risks associated with rural obstetric unit closures, and challenges faced by communities without hospital-based obstetric care. Describes clinical and policy efforts to improve access and quality of care for birthing people and their families in rural communities with low-volume obstetric units or lack access to hospital-based obstetric care.
Author(s): Katy B. Kozhimannil, Julia D. Interrante, Alyssa H. Fritz, et al.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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NHPCO Facts and Figures: 2024 Edition
Provides an overview of hospice and palliative care in the United States. Includes information and data on patient characteristics, access to care, reimbursement, barriers and facilitators to care, quality of care, and more. Includes data on geographic locations of hospice services and patients.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: National Alliance for Care at Home, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
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Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. 2024
Explores maternal healthcare access and provides county-level U.S. maps that show maternity care deserts, hospitals that offer obstetric (OB) care, distribution of OB providers, travel time to maternity care, chronic conditions of birthing people, social drivers of health, and more. Includes rural versus urban characteristics of the maternal health workforce as well as access and policy discussions specific to rural areas.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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Palliative Care Challenges and Solutions in Rural U.S. Communities
Policy brief describing the availability of palliative care (PC) services in rural communities compared with urban areas, and identifying novel solutions for providing PC to rural areas. Features statistics including sociodemographic characteristics of urban and rural counties with and without hospitals offering PC as of 2020, and availability of PC in rural hospitals and health systems as of 2022-2023, with breakdowns by large rural, small rural, and isolated rural areas.
Author(s): Natalia V. Oster, Laura-Mae Baldwin, Pat Justis, et al.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
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Improving HPV Vaccination Coverage in The Last Frontier Takes a Community-Centered Approach
Discusses the Alaska Cancer Partnership's efforts to support human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination through community partnerships and the Alaska HPV Vaccination Month campaign. Details initiatives focused on rural, tribal, and youth vaccination access and awareness.
Author(s): Jessica Quinn
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
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Prescription Medication Use, Coverage, and Nonadherence Among Adults Age 65 and Older: United States, 2021–2022
Reports on medication use, prescription drug insurance coverage, and nonadherence due to cost for older adults between 2021 and 2022. Includes data breakdown of various demographic and health status characteristics including 4 levels of urbanization.
Author(s): Robin A. Cohen, Laryssa Mykyta
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Medical Visits and Mortality among Dementia Patients during the COVID-19 Pandemic Compared to Rates Predicted from 2019
Evaluates actual versus predicted changes in medical visits and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic among adults aged 66 and older with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Utilizes 2019-2022 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data. See table 3 for a bar graph displaying differences in COVID-related and COVID-unrelated excess mortality for selected sociodemographic factors, including level of rurality, during the pandemic.
Author(s): Kaushik Ghosh, Susan T. Stewart, Trivellore Raghunathan, David M. Cutler
Citation: BMC Geriatrics, 24, 727
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
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Perceptions of Multi-Cancer Early Detection Tests among Communities Facing Barriers to Health Care
Used focus groups to identify barriers and facilitators of multi-cancer early detection tests use for people facing access barriers to healthcare including rural Alaskan residents among others. Discusses the mental health impacts of cancer screening, knowledge of screening, patient-provider relationships, trust in healthcare systems, access to healthcare, and financial accessibility.
Author(s): Kristi L. Roybal, Robyn A. Husa, Maria Connolly, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 2(9)
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
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Implementation of a Rural Emergency Department-initiated Buprenorphine Program in the Mountain West: A Study Protocol
Protocol for a study of emergency department (ED) initiation of buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) in the rural Mountain West. Discusses study design, implementation strategies, and barriers to OUD treatment access and provision in rural areas.
Author(s): Natasha Seliski, Troy Madsen, Savannah Eley, et al.
Citation: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 19, 63
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
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Building a Regional Healthcare Presence and Partnerships, with Krista Postai and Jason Wesco
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Krista Postai, CEO of Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas (CHC/SEK), and Jason Wesco, CHC/SEK's President and Chief Strategy Officer. Focuses on the community health center's journey from a single facility operating out of a trailer to having 18 locations across the region that leverage community partnerships to address health-related social needs.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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