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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Infectious diseases

Review of Rural U.S. Economic and Health Care Trends
Reviews recent literature and publicly available data to explore important issues at the nexus of healthcare and local economic vibrancy, and explores the economic implications associated with COVID-19. Includes sections on rural hospitals, the rural healthcare workforce, emergency medical services, insurance, and telehealth. Features statistics with breakdowns by 6 levels of population density and county-level maps showing Health Professional Shortage Areas and rural counties without obstetrical services.
Author(s): Alison Davis
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Economic Analysis of Rural Health
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Self-reported Illness Experiences and Psychosocial Outcomes for Reservation-Area American Indian Youth During COVID-19
Results of a Spring 2021 study of 2,559 American Indian students in grades 6-12 in schools on or near Indian reservations. Features statistics on COVID-19 experiences for self and others.
Author(s): Linda R. Stanley, Meghan A. Crabtree, Randall C. Swaim, Mark A. Prince.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 5(9), e2231764
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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Rural Child Care Solutions: From the Ground Up
Explores challenges related to childcare access in Minnesota that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Includes data on childcare availability broken down by entirely rural, town/rural mix, urban/town/rural mix, and entirely urban location. Includes discussions, models, and mitigating strategies to address childcare issues.
Additional links: Summary
Author(s): Marnie Werner
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Policy and Development
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Rural Hospital Closures Threaten Access: Solutions to Preserve Care in Local Communities
Provides an overview of rural hospital closures between 2010-2021. Discusses rural demographics and outlines trends affecting rural hospital financial sustainability, including patient volume and health, reimbursement, staffing shortages, COVID-19, new models of care, and more.
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Strategies Adopted by Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men to Prevent Monkeypox virus Transmission — United States, August 2022
Reports on monkeypox vaccination among men who have sex with men (MSM), with data by location for urban, suburban, small/medium metro, and rural areas. Information is based on a monkeypox-specific follow-up survey to the annual American Men's Internet Survey, completed by a convenience sample of 824 MSM.
Author(s): Kevin P. Delaney, Travis Sanchez, Marissa Hannah, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(35), 1126-1130
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Booster COVID-19 Vaccinations Among Persons Aged ≥5 Years and Second Booster COVID-19 Vaccinations Among Persons Aged ≥50 Years — United States, August 13, 2021–August 5, 2022
Reports on booster and second booster vaccination coverage among eligible populations, with data by urban and rural location by age group for those age 5-11, 12-17, 18-39, 40-64, and 65 and older. Includes discussion of vaccination barriers in rural areas.
Author(s): Hannah E. Fast, Bhavini Patel Murthy, Elizabeth Zell, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(35), 1121-1125
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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National Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13–17 Years — National Immunization Survey-Teen, United States, 2021
Reports on trends in vaccination coverage among U.S. adolescents by age for ages 13 through 17. Includes discussion of rural vaccination coverage concerns but does not provide rural-specific data.
Author(s): Cassandra Pingali, David Yankey, Laurie D. Elam-Evans, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 71(35), 1101-1108
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Exploring Rural Doctors' Early Experiences of Coping With the Emerging COVID-19 Pandemic
Explores the methods rural doctors used to care for patients and cope with the stress of COVID-19. Bases conclusions on interviews with rural physicians detailing the support they gave and received in their practices and their strategies for dealing with the emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Author(s): Ian Couper, Lucie Walters, Susan Williams, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(4), 923-931
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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The Implications of Long COVID for Rural Communities
Discusses the differences in COVID-19 outcomes for rural and urban areas and assesses their relative risk for, and capacity to treat, long COVID. Explores how the usual barriers to health and wellness in rural areas could affect the diagnosis and treatment of long COVID.
Author(s): Nathan Hale, Michael Meit, Samuel Pettyjohn, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(4), 945-947
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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Broadband Internet Subscription Rates and Opioid Prescribing via Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Explores the effect of the DEA's temporary permission for providers to prescribe opioids via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky. Discusses the effect this permission had on rural areas and in counties with low and high rates of broadband access.
Author(s): Douglas R. Oyler, Svetla Slavova, Patricia R. Freeman, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 38(4), 900-907
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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