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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

Creating Access to Care in Rural America
Recording of a May 2024 webinar describing how CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center utilized telemedicine hubs to ensure access to care in rural West Virginia communities. Discusses lessons learned, development of the program, and future plans. Features a panel discussion with telehealth, geriatric care, and rural health experts on improving healthcare delivery in rural areas. Transcript available in the video description.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Center of Excellence for Telehealth and Aging
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Overdose Responses among Rural People Who Use Drugs: A Multi-Regional Qualitative Study
Analyzes qualitative data from 7 Rural Opioid Initiative studies on peer responses to overdose. Identifies themes related to naloxone administration, overdose reversal strategies, willingness to call 911, perceptions of first responders, and access to medical intervention. Discusses public health approaches to increasing access to care and effectiveness of overdose response in rural areas.
Author(s): Robin Baker, Rob J Fredericksen, Abby E Rudolph, et al.
Citation: Harm Reduction Journal, 21, 107
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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Tribally-Led Mobile Outreach: Improving Access to Harm Reduction Services in One Rural Reservation Community
Presents a study on the efficacy of a tribally-run mobile outreach service to deliver opioid harm reduction information and services. Breaks down type of services offered, the organizational reach, and population served.
Author(s): Allyson Kelley, Kellie Webb, Katherine Hirchak, et al.
Citation: Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1383729
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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The Implications of Using Maternity Care Deserts to Measure Progress in Access to Obstetric Care: A Mixed-Integer Optimization Analysis
Compares geographic access to critical care obstetric (CCO) services in Georgia via a county-level maternal care desert model versus a model of census blocks further than 50 miles from CCO services. Uses each model to estimate how expansion of facilities would affect access to care, and also to estimate race and ethnicity, insurance status, age, and poverty rate of reproductive-aged women with limited access to care using 2017 American Community Survey data.
Author(s): Meghan E. Meredith, Lauren N. Steimle, Stephanie M. Radke
Citation: BMC Health Services Research, 24, 682
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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Pandemic-Era Trends in Telehealth Use among Americans with Private Health Insurance
Brief analyzing telehealth use between 2019 and 2021 for people younger than 65 with private health insurance. Discusses the impact of COVID-19 on telehealth use. Analyzes data by various factors such as age, rurality, access, broadband availability, and more. Discusses policy implications related to broadband access, mental healthcare provider shortages, costs, access, and equity. Includes both nationwide and state-by-state rural and urban comparisons.
Author(s): Beth Carter, Olivia Dean, Alex Hartzman, Luis Arzaluz, Aiden Wynia
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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VA Health Care: Additional Assessments of Mileage Reimbursement Data and Veterans' Travel Costs Needed
Provides an overview of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) mileage reimbursement benefit that reimburses eligible veterans for the use of personal vehicles to attend VHA-approved care. Explores the extent to which the benefit helps defray travel costs by describing the distance a veteran would have to travel to receive a non-zero reimbursement across a variety of conditions. Presents VHA data on veterans' use of the benefit from fiscal years 2010 through 2023, as well as fuel costs incurred and mileage reimbursement for hypothetical trips to 3 VA health systems by rurality. Offers recommendations to the VA and VHA on the collection and assessment of veterans' use of the mileage reimbursement benefit and how travel costs vary by subpopulations, such as rural veterans.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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For the Rural Curious: Mixed Methods Evaluation of a Rural Pharmacy Practice Elective
Discusses the impact of a rural pharmacy course offered at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy to provide students with experience related to serving rural communities struggling with provider shortages. Includes survey data on student experiences and interest in working in rural areas following graduation.
Author(s): Timothy P. Stratton
Citation: BMC Medical Education, 24, 573
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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Using mHealth to Reduce Disparities in Black Maternal Health: Perspectives from Black Rural Postpartum Mothers
Provides an overview of factors impacting Black maternal health in rural Georgia. Describes research regarding mobile health (mHealth) as a tool for advancing sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Summarizes findings from group interviews with 14 women and identifies themes related to facilitators and barriers to postpartum transitional care for rural Black women.
Author(s): Natalie Hernandez-Green, Morgan V. Davis, Oluyemi Farinu, et al.
Citation: Women's Health, 20
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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Veterans Affairs: Actions Needed to Improve Access to Care in the U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States
Examines how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates the population of veterans in the U.S. territories and freely associated states (FAS) to inform resource allocation and outreach needs. Describes how the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) monitors veterans' use of and access to healthcare services at VHA facilities in the U.S. territories. Discusses challenges veterans face in accessing VHA services in the U.S. territories and FAS and VA efforts to address these challenges. Offers recommendations to the VA and Department of Defense to assess the data sources in its model for estimating the veteran population and its travel benefits policies for territory veterans.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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A Look at the Latest Alcohol Death Data and Change Over the Last Decade
Describes findings from an analysis of 2012 to 2022 CDC WONDER data regarding trends in deaths caused by conditions directly attributable to alcohol consumption, also referred to as alcohol-induced deaths or alcohol deaths. Presents data on alcohol death rates in 2022 and over time by race and ethnicity, age, sex, state, and rurality. Discusses factors that may contribute to increases in alcohol deaths since 2012.
Author(s): Heather Saunders, Robin Rudowitz
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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