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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare needs and services

Facilitators and Barriers to Passing Local Policies That Prohibit the Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products: Qualitative Analysis of Strategies Implemented by 36 Communities in California, 2017–2021
Examines the success rate of implementing local polices that prohibit flavored tobacco sales in California. Analyzes both rural and urban communities and discusses barriers and facilitators to policy adoption.
Author(s): Sarah Hellesen, Sue Haun, Melanie S. Dove
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 21
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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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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Sentinel Enhanced Dengue Surveillance System — Puerto Rico, 2012–2022
Highlights the results of viral Dengue surveillance in Puerto Rico from May, 2012 to December, 2022. Details and tracks the various forms of illnesses that Dengue presents as. Discusses other diseases caught via the surveillance, such as Zika, COVID-19, and other respiratory viruses.
Author(s): Zachary J. Madewell, Alfonso C. Hernandez-Romieu, Joshua M. Wong, et al.
Citation: MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 73(3), 1-29
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Assessment and Tailoring Study (WIC NATS)
Provides an overview of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and how local WIC agencies and clinic sites assess their breastfeeding and nutrition services to improve participant retention and service delivery. Includes two reports: a pre-pandemic nutrition assessment report at the state and local levels and a remote versus in-person report focused on assessment processes. Includes data from state agencies as well as 369 local WIC agencies, with differences between rural versus urban agencies discussed.
Additional links: Final Report Part 1, Final Report Part 2, Summary
Author(s): M. Gabay, A.A. Gola, M. Gearing, et al.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Food and Nutrition Service
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Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities And Fatality Rate by Sub-Categories in 2023
Presents projections of traffic fatalities and the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2023. Breaks down data by month, age, sex, and by rural versus urban roads, among other measures. Compares 2022 fatality data to 2023 rates by month for a number of indicators, including rural areas.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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Traffic Safety Facts, 2022 Data: Alcohol-Impaired Driving
National data on traffic crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers. Features statistics with breakdowns including road conditions, month, time of day, state, and rural or urban location.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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Enduring Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Access, Nutrition, and Well-Being in Rural Appalachia
Examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on a rural, Appalachian community in Kentucky. Utilizes focus group data from 39 participants to analyze ongoing issues such as social isolation, cost of living, and food access. Discusses how these issues affect mental health, access to needed medications, and ability to purchase nutritious food.
Author(s): Kathryn M. Cardarelli, Emily DeWitt, Rachel Gillespie, Nathan Bandy, Heather Norman-Burgdolf
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(5), 594
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Payment System for Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities for FY 2025
Comment on an April 3, 2024, Federal Register proposed rule revising the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System (IPF PPS) for fiscal year 2025. Includes a discussion of rural IPF PPS payment adjustments.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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