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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Pediatric Subspecialty Outreach Clinics: Reach and Impact on Access to Care
Examines the impact of pediatric subspecialty clinics on driving times to children's subspecialty care in Maine. Compares distance to outreach clinics and clinical hubs for seven pediatric subspecialties, utilizing Google Maps driving time estimates for each Maine ZIP code tabulation area. Includes breakdowns by rural versus urban area.
Author(s): James C. Bohnhoff, Anya Cutler, Sean Hagenbuch, Kristen Kurland
Citation: BMC Pediatrics, 24, 519
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
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Youth in Crisis: How an Innovative Program is Addressing Pediatric Mental Health
Highlights a New Hampshire pediatric behavioral health training program using the Project ECHO model. Discusses access to care, workforce shortages, benefits of collaboration, and community engagement. Transcript beneath the audio player.
Date: 08/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Changes in Rural Pharmacy Presence 2023
Data brief exploring availability of retail pharmacy services in rural areas of the U.S. Provides information on rural communities that have kept, lost, or gained a retail pharmacy between 2018 and 2023. Features statistics on numbers of pharmacies in rural areas in 2018 and 2023, with breakdowns by communities with one pharmacy, two pharmacies, or three or more pharmacies.
Author(s): Fred Ullrich, Keith Mueller
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Community Health Centers' Progress and Challenges in Meeting Patients' Essential Primary Care Needs: Findings from the Commonwealth Fund 2024 National Survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers
Summarizes findings from the 2024 Commonwealth Fund National Survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which received responses from 737 FQHC leaders in fall 2023 and spring 2024. Explores the extent to which FQHCs achieve primary care accessibility, comprehensiveness, and coordination. Compares findings to data from the 2018 version of this survey to assess how care delivery changed over time. Describes barriers FQHCs face in offering high-quality care. Presents data by rural and urban location throughout.
Author(s): Celli Horstman, Corinne Lewis, Alexandra Bryan, Sara Federman
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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Delivery of High-Speed Broadband Services in Unserved and Underserved Areas of the Commonwealth (Pennsylvania): Fifth Annual Report
Provides an update on the role of broadband in education, telehealth, agriculture, and community and economic development; barriers to development; and funding resources. Discusses developments in Pennsylvania state and local initiatives and efforts to identify unserved and underserved Pennsylvania communities.
Author(s): Yvonne Llewellyn Hursh, Bryan W. DeWalt, Lydia Hack, Allison N. Kobzowicz, Wendy L. Baker
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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The Effect of Proximity to Grocery Stores and the Pandemic on Parents' and Youths' Perceptions of Eating Habits in Predominately African American Rural Communities
Surveyed 203 youth and parents to determine the impact of grocery store access on eating habits, health, and exercise habits in 3 African American rural communities. Compares results between parents with and without grocery store access as well as between parents and youth. Discusses the impact of COVID-19 on eating habits and exercise.
Author(s): Amanda Williams, Sharlene D. Newman
Citation: Frontiers in Nutrition, 11
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
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Veterans Health Care: VA's Video Telehealth Access Program Would Benefit from Performance Goals and Measures
Describes programs implemented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to address veterans' barriers to accessing telehealth, with a focus on the Accessing Telehealth at Local Area Stations (ATLAS) Pilot Program. Examines telehealth performance and use data, veterans' satisfaction with VHA telehealth services, and VHA efforts to assess the quality of its telehealth services. Offers recommendations to the VHA regarding the development and use of performance goals and measures to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the ATLAS program.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Sociodemographic Differences in Nonfinancial Access Barriers to Health Care Among Adults: United States, 2022
Examines nonfinancial reasons adults delay medical care, such as work or other time commitments, lack of available appointments, not having access to clinic or provider hours, difficulty finding provider match for insurance, and length of time to get to provider's office. Utilizes 2022 National Health Interview Survey to break down healthcare access barriers according to sex, age, race/ethnicity, family income, education, employment, insurance status, and urbanization level, including large central metropolitan, large fringe metropolitan, medium and small metropolitan, or nonmetropolitan.
Author(s): Amanda E. Ng, Dzifa Adjaye-Gbewonyo, James M. Dahlhamer
Date: 08/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Palliative Care in Rural Communities
Presents the CARE (Complex, Access, Resourceful, Extraordinary) Framework to highlight the challenges and benefits of healthcare delivery in rural communities. Highlights multiple models for palliative care outside acute care settings with consideration for the CARE Framework.
Author(s): Tracy Fasolino, Kathleen Valentine, Megan E. Mayfield, William E. Rosa, Anne Koci
Citation: American Journal of Nursing, 128(4), 50-55
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
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Factors Associated With Surveillance Testing in Individuals With COVID-19 Symptoms During the Last Leg of the Pandemic: Multivariable Regression Analysis
Examines demographic, clinical, and behavioral factors associated with COVID-19 testing in a predominantly rural, underserved population in West Virginia between May and November 2022. Utilizes Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics for Underserved Populations program (RADx-UP2) survey data of 2103 individuals. Includes a geospatial analysis of associations between county-level community distress and likelihood of being symptomatic when presenting for testing.
Author(s): Timothy Dotson, Brad Price, Brian Witrick, et al.
Citation: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 2024(10), e52762
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
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