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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Economics and the economy

The Digital Divide in U.S. Mobile Technology and Speeds
Report examining the digital divide in access to mobile broadband service for certain populations, including rural areas. Discusses age of mobile and WiFi technology and compiles speed test data to analyze access at the county level. Presents population data based on race, household size, employment, and offers maps of approximate LTE speeds by county.
Author(s): Judith Dempsey, Patrick Sun
Date: 12/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Communications Commission
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Social Determinants of Health: Challenges and Opportunities in Rural America
Recorded presentation by Jan Probst on social determinants of health in rural America. Offers definitions of social determinants of health and rurality, and discusses economic dynamics of rural areas, education, and the importance of cooperative efforts to make change, with examples of such efforts in South Carolina.
Date: 12/2020
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
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Rural America's Senior Citizens: Considerations for Transportation, Healthcare Access, Connectedness, Nutrition and Economics
Policy paper providing an overview of rural older adults. Examines the challenges rural older adults face in accessing healthcare. Discusses how transportation, social isolation, nutrition, and economics impact the health outcomes of this population.
Author(s): Tasha Brown, Kay Miller Temple, Josie Rudolphi
Date: 10/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Is Rural America Failing or Succeeding? Maybe Both
Policy brief examining Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reclassification of rural counties as metropolitan due to population growth. Provides visual data on counties that transitioned from nonmetropolitan to metropolitan since 1970, including a U.S. map representing reclassified counties. Discusses the implications of reclassification for economic policy and interpretations of rural demographics.
Author(s): Kenneth M. Johnson and Daniel T. Lichter
Date: 09/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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COVID-19: Opportunities to Improve Federal Response and Recovery Efforts
Provides an overview of key federal actions and spending allocations in response to the health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifies challenges related to federal actions including the Payment Protection Program, economic impact payments, and Medicaid's Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) formula. Offers lesson learned from the initial pandemic response and recommends areas for further legislative action.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Rural Connections: Challenges and Opportunities in America's Heartland
Examines rural transportation challenges, including decreased state transportation revenues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, higher traffic fatality rates compared to urban settings, poor road and bridge conditions, and more. Comments on the importance of rural transportation for the nation's economy, emphasizing its role in transferring goods and helping rural communities access healthcare, education, job opportunities, and social services.
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Transportation Research Nonprofit (TRIP)
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Mental Health in a Pandemic: Q&A with Thomasine Heitkamp and Dennis Mohatt
An interview with Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center co-directors Thomasine Heitkamp and Dennis Mohatt on the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discusses telehealth, economic insecurity, broadband, and mental health under COVID-19 and self-isolation.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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In Search of "Good" Rural Data: Measuring Rural Prosperity
Discusses the availability of data on rural communities, including economic, health, demographic, and geographic data, and issues that make rural data collection and reporting difficult. Compares 22 datasets, exploring what makes data collection difficult and what makes specific datasets challenging to work with. Addresses methods of locating good information in existing datasets, as well as steps toward improving data access.
Author(s): Corianne Payton Scally, Eric Burnstein, Matthew Gerken, Evelyn Immonen
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Aspen Institute, Housing Assistance Council, Urban Institute
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Republic of Palau - State of the Republic Address
Includes updates on efforts to minimize exposure to COVID-19 on Palau, and to help provide economic assistance to citizens who have experienced a loss of income due to the pandemic and communities that are experiencing financial hardship.
Author(s): Tommy E. Remengesau
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Republic of Palau
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Views of Rural US Adults About Health and Economic Concerns
Results of phone surveys of 1705 rural adults, conducted in 2018 and 2019. Explores their views on the most important problems facing their communities, including healthcare access and costs, suicide, and opioid or other drug abuse.
Author(s): Mary G. Findling, Robert J. Blendon, John M. Benson, Justin M. Sayde, Carolyn E. Miller
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 3(1)
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
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