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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community and economic development

An Active Roadmap: Best Practices in Rural Mobility
Provides a literature review and cases studies related to the ways rural communities encourage health-focused infrastructure, multimodal transportation, economic development, and environmentally safe practices. Describes the typology and demographics of rural areas and discusses how transportation is linked to wellness and community health outcomes.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Smart Growth America, The National Complete Streets Coalition
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Rural Partners Network - U.S. Treasury Programs Relevant to the U.S. Agriculture Rural Development
Webinar recording from the Rural Partners Network with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Treasury to highlight programs for rural and tribal communities from the Treasury. Discusses funding related to housing, broadband, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and more. Transcript is available in the video description.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: U.S. Department of Treasury, USDA Rural Development
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Shared Equity Housing in Rural Communities: Models, Lessons and Best Practices
Presentation slides that discuss shared equity housing in rural areas, a housing model that helps provide secure housing for individuals while keeping housing affordable for the community. Provides an overview of the shared equity housing model and outcomes of specific programs.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Presentation Slides
Sponsoring organization: Rural LISC
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Indicators of Healthy Aging: A Guide to Explore Healthy Aging Data through Community Health Improvement
Provides an overview for local health departments (LHDs) and partners to assess the components of healthy aging in their communities through research, data, and practice. Focuses on tracking health indicators and the social determinants of health (SDOH) and how to use data while considering community-level factors that impact healthcare access, such as race/ethnicity, location/rurality, Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) status, and more.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: National Association of County and City Health Officials, Trust for America's Health
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Predicting Firm Creation in Rural Texas: A Multi-Model Machine Learning Approach to a Complex Policy Problem
Evaluates Texas counties between 2008 and 2018 to identify factors contributing to entrepreneurship for rural areas. Discusses how healthcare, elder care, and child care predict growth in entrepreneurship. Compares predictive factors for rural areas with urban predictive factors. Makes recommendations for research, policy, and scholarship for rural entrepreneurship.
Author(s): Mark C. Hand, Vivek Shastry, Varun Rai
Citation: PLOS ONE, 18(6), e0287217
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
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Advancing Economic Development in Persistent-Poverty Communities
Examines census tracts to identify areas of "persistent poverty," defined as an area with at least a 20% poverty rate for at least 30 years. Discusses the distribution of the persistently poor population between rural and urban areas and highlights specific regions such as the Southeast, Tribal areas, and Appalachia. Outlines contributors to persistent poverty including workforce development, lack of infrastructure, race and ethnicity, economic conditions, and more. Presents 4 case studies, including 2 rural studies, to highlight overall themes and make recommendations for improving conditions in persistently poor locations. Interactive map provides information and data on persistent poverty counties.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Interactive Map
Author(s): August Benzow, Kenan Fikri, Joanne Kim, Daniel Newman
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Economic Innovation Group
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Advancing Health and Resilience in the Gulf of Mexico Region: Roadmap for Progress
Describes the current state of health and community resilience in the Gulf of Mexico region and identifies roadblocks to progress. Offers policy recommendations focused on addressing critical gaps in data and funding community resilience. Presents a road map for improving health and community resilience in the Gulf region. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on Progress Toward Human Health and Community Resilience in the Gulf of Mexico Region
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Success Story: Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
Discusses the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative's (RWHC) approach to supporting community health and economic vitality in rural Wisconsin. Highlights successful partnerships between hospitals, community groups, philanthropies, and commercial organizations.
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Office of Rural Prosperity
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Maximizing New Federal Investments in Broadband for Rural America
Policy brief covering the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program with recommendations for stakeholders on how to close the digital divide for rural America. Discusses transparency and accountability, capacity building and community engagement, and implementation.
Author(s): Anthony F. Pipa, Laura Landes, Zoe Swarzenski
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: The Brookings Institution
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Community Impact and Benefit Activities of Critical Access, Other Rural, and Urban Hospitals, 2021
Examines the economic and healthcare benefit of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) on rural communities. Looks at the services provided, the economic health of CAHs, and the effect this has on their communities broadly. Includes comparisons of community benefit and patient care services indicators provided by CAHs and other rural and urban hospitals.
Date: 05/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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