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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health conditions

Building Trust in Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (PHEPR) Science: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief
Summarizes findings from a March 2022 workshop focused on trustworthiness of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (PHEPR) institutions and researchers. Discusses how to promote trust in public health agencies and establishing communication strategies to address misinformation. Includes cultural issues related to rural and tribal communities.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Enduring Cancer Disparities by Persistent Poverty, Rurality, and Race: 1990-1992 to 2014-2018
Examines overall cancer mortality in the U.S. by county characteristics such as persistent poverty and rural versus urban location, as well as by isolating race as a potential determinant. Utilizes 1990-1992 and 2014-2018 National Death Index data to analyze how health disparities in cancer mortality have changed over time.
Author(s): Jennifer L. Moss, Casey N. Pinto, Shobha Srinivasan, Kathleen A. Cronin, Robert T. Croyle
Citation: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 114(6), 829-836
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
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New Census Bureau Population Estimates Show COVID-19 Impact on Fertility and Mortality Across the Nation
Presents information on population changes in the U.S. over the past decade and how COVID-19 has impacted population in the past year. Includes charts showing 2011-2021 state-level natural decreases, births, and deaths, as well as maps showing 2020-2021 county-level natural changes.
Author(s): Sandra Johnson, Shannon Sabo
Date: 03/2022
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Initial Home Dialysis Is Increased for Rural Patients by Accessing Urban Facilities
Investigates health disparities between rural and urban patients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD). Examines 97,930 dialysis initiates from the 2017 United States Renal Data System, broken down by the timing of home dialysis initiation, patient race, disease type, body mass index (BMI), employment status, rural versus urban facility location, and more. Discusses issues of access and disparities in mortality for different populations.
Author(s): Joel T. Adler, S. Ali Husain, Lingwei Xiang, James R. Rodrigue, Sushrut S. Waikar
Citation: Kidney 360, 3, 488-496
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
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"Hard to Say Goodbye Over iPad": Experiences of Palliative Care Providers and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural Communities of Indiana, United States
Explores healthcare professionals' perspectives about the challenges and barriers to providing palliative care in rural Indiana during the COVID-19 pandemic. Presents findings from interviews with 15 providers on restricted visitation, communication barriers, provider distress, and hospice services and referrals.
Author(s): Nasreen Lalani, Yun Cai, Yitong Wang
Citation: Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 24(3), E94-E100
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
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Minnesota's Health Care Workforce: Pandemic-Provoked Workforce Exits, Burnout, and Shortages
Reports on loss of healthcare professionals in Minnesota due to turnover, burnout, reduction in working hours, early retirement, and more. Provides charts of workforce professionals in 2019 compared to 2021 by vacancy, working a position unrelated to healthcare license, job dissatisfaction, and more, as well as charts showing rural versus urban comparisons of workforce issues.
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
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COVID-19 and the Rural Health Workforce: The Impact of Federal Pandemic Funding to Address Workforce Needs
Policy brief describing workforce challenges faced by rural healthcare delivery systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, and discussing how pre-pandemic financial instability in rural healthcare facilities may have contributed to these challenges. Discusses the availability of federal pandemic funding to address rural health workforce needs, the ability of rural facilities to access and utilize the funding, and the long-term needs of the rural health workforce and delivery system. Addresses telehealth solutions to workforce challenges, and funding sources for mental health needs of health professionals
Author(s): Natalia V. Oster, Davis G. Patterson, Susan M. Skillman, Bianca K. Frogner
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: UW Center for Health Workforce Studies
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Indian Health Service: Relief Funding and Agency Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
Describes the COVID-19 relief funding for Indian Health Service (IHS), tribal, and urban Indian organization health facilities and how the funds were used to meet immediate and longstanding system needs. Discusses the initial IHS response to the pandemic and steps IHS took to address challenges that its hospitals faced responding to the pandemic.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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The Impact of a Grocery Store Closure in One Rural Highly Obese Appalachian Community on Shopping Behavior and Dietary Intake
Results of telephone surveys of people in Martin County, Kentucky, a highly obese community in which healthy food accessibility is scarce and which experienced the closure of a local grocery store in January 2020. Includes demographics for the participants, and compares their food shopping habits at the time of the initial contact with those at the time of a follow-up survey a year later.
Author(s): Rachel Gillespie, Emily DeWitt, Stacey Slone, Kathryn Cardarelli, Alison Gustafson
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3506
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
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Consequences of Structural Urbanism: Urban–Rural Differences in Cancer Patients' Use and Perceived Importance of Supportive Care Services from a 2017–2018 Midwestern Survey
Examines health disparities in supportive cancer care based on data from 326 rural and urban Midwestern cancer patients from November 2017 to May 2018. Includes participant data broken down by rurality, age, sex, race, marital status, insurance status, and related cancer diagnosis. Discusses closures of healthcare services and limited resources in rural areas and their impact on healthcare access for cancer patients.
Author(s): Marquita W. Lewis-Thames, Patricia Fank, Michelle Gates, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6)
Date: 03/2022
Type: Document
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