Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Economics and the economy

Virginia Rural Hospital Report: The Challenge Before Us
Highlights the public health and economic contributions made by the 28 Virginia rural hospitals and the challenges they face. Features statistics on admissions, births, beds, and fulltime employees, and county-level maps showing locations of rural hospitals and Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Date: 01/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association
view details
Engaging Rural Communities to Incorporate Social Determinants in Developing Strategies to Improve Access to Health Care in the Missouri Bootheel Counties
Presents a study on how social determinants of health affect healthcare access in several rural counties in Missouri. Discusses the perceived barriers to care in the rural "Bootheel" counties, such as economic issues, lack of health insurance coverage, and lack of coordinated care, among others.
Author(s): Ashish Shrestha, Katherine Stamatakis, Janice Ballard
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 23, 7678
Date: 01/2023
Type: Document
view details
Mental Health in Rural New York: Findings and Implications of a Listening Tour with Residents and Professionals
Findings from the Rural Mental Health Listening Tour of New York State, conducted between March 2020 and September 2021 to elicit input and experiences of community members living and working in rural areas. Presents strengths and assets of rural communities, and highlights model programs and success stories. Includes recommendations in categories including access to transportation and broadband, access to mental health programs, availability of services, improving and sustaining workforce capacity, and offers state- and county-specific recommendations.
Author(s): Brett Harris, Katie Gallant, Abby Mariani
Date: 01/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
view details
The Fifth National Climate Assessment
Report outlining the impacts of climate change in the U.S., discussing impacts to both the physical earth as well as society, economics, and health sectors. Offers a look at both national topics of interest as well as the current and future risks at a regional level. Chapter 11 addresses agriculture, food systems, and rural concerns. Chapter 16 addresses Indigenous Peoples.
Date: 2023
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Global Change Research Program
view details
Taking Stock: Rural People, Rural Places, Rural Housing
Provides an overview of rural definitions, people, places, housing, and poverty in the United States. Includes U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) and Decennial Census of Population and Housing data that illustrate trends in rural demographics and economy, with data depicted through statistics, charts, and maps. Discusses social determinants of health (SDOH) and issues such as COVID-19, natural disasters, equity, and more.
Date: 2023
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Housing Assistance Council
view details
COVID-19 Working Paper: Consumer Food Spending Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Examines U.S. consumer food-at-home (FAH) and food-away-from home (FAFH) purchasing behaviors prior to 2016-2019 and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Provides spending data for U.S. households by age, race and ethnicity, household composition, income, and region. Includes budget share data for fruits, vegetables, and protein, and per capita spending on FAH and FAFH by region and urban/rural areas.
Author(s): Abigail Okrent, Eliana Zeballos
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
view details
Health, Work, and Care in Rural America
Report examining rural access to paid leave from work, the economic impacts of limited access to paid leave, and distances to hospital-based and skilled nursing care. Offers a broad view of rural economic and health dynamics, travel burdens to access hospital-based care, and presents policy recommendations to address paid leave as a social determinant of health.
Author(s): Vicki Shabo, Hannah Friedman
Date: 11/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: New America
view details
Through Natural Disaster to Prosperity: Five Principles to Improve Health and Economic Outcomes for Rural Communities and Native Nations
Describes 5 principles related to natural disasters and community resilience, including conditions that affect disaster vulnerability, relationships among rural communities and natural systems, equity in disaster response, local capacity, and responsive funding. Offers rural and tribal case studies and perspectives from rural economic and community development practitioners.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Aspen Institute
view details
How Resilient Are Communities Along the U.S.-Mexico Border?
Examines economic and health risk factor data for the United States-Mexico border region based on Community Resilience Estimates (CRE) and American Community Survey (ACS) data. Compares average risk factor statistics for border counties, non-border counties in border states, and all non-border counties in the U.S., and offers comparisons for the 4 border states.
Date: 10/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
view details
Coal Production and Employment in Appalachia
Examines major trends in coal production and employment in Appalachia between 2000-2020 and assesses how those trends may affect economic performance in the region. Includes a section on health outcomes, with statistics comparing the mortality rate in Appalachian coal counties, Appalachian non-coal counties, and the rest of the United States, as well as the mortality rate in Appalachian coal region subregions.
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Appalachian Regional Commission
view details