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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Population health

The Impact of Coronavirus on Households Across America
Examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. households. Covers health, economic, and work-related impacts and related issues such as broadband access. Includes a section on problems specific to rural households. A separate report is available that focuses specifically on rural impacts of COVID-19.
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, National Public Radio, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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A Century Later: Rural Public Health's Enduring Challenges and Opportunities
Discusses rural health disparities that have persisted over the past century, with information on infectious disease, access to healthcare, maternal and child health, and racial health disparities in the United States. Discusses public health challenges and solutions for rural communities.
Author(s): Erika Ziller, Carly Milkowski
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, e1-e9
Date: 09/2020
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The Mississippi Delta Health Collaborative Medication Therapy Management Model: Public Health and Pharmacy Working Together to Improve Population Health in the Mississippi Delta
Examines the effects of a medication therapy management (MTM) intervention on patients in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the Mississippi Delta region. Includes data on clinical measures before and after MTM for patients with diabetes, hypertension, and/or dyslipidemia.
Author(s): Leigh Ann Ross, Lauren Bloodworth, Meagan Brown, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 17
Date: 09/2020
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Rural Action Plan
Provides an overview of the rural health care and human services landscape. Outlines a Four-Point strategy to build a sustainable health and human services model for rural communities, leverage technology and innovation, focus on preventing disease and mortality, and increase rural access to care. Identifies opportunities to transform rural health and human services through federal government partnership and describes new policies and programs to implement the Four-Point Strategy. Highlights actions already taken by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support rural communities.
Date: 09/2020
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Toward Optimal and Equitable Rural Health
Explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced public health and clinical care systems and infrastructure. Features discussion on rural health disparities and offers recommendations for promoting health equity and improving population health.
Author(s): Eduardo Sanchez
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1340-1341
Date: 09/2020
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The Intergenerational Cycles of Rural Health
Discusses challenges facing rural communities, including poverty, low educational attainment, poor health behaviors, and insufficient healthcare access. Explains how these factors influence one another and persist from generation to generation.
Author(s): Randy Wykoff
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1279-1280
Date: 09/2020
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Funding and Service Delivery in Rural and Urban Local US Health Departments in 2010 and 2016
Uses nationally representative data from 2010 and 2016 to explore rural/urban differences in local health department (LHD) funding and service delivery. Includes data and statistics on LHD characteristics, sources of revenue, and types of services provided by LHDs, with information broken down by rurality.
Author(s): Kate Beatty, Megan Heffernan, Nathan Hale, Michael Meit
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1293-1299
Date: 09/2020
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The State of Rural Public Health: Enduring Needs in a New Decade
Examines changes in rural/urban disparities over a 40-year period, including differences in life expectancy, social determinants of health, challenges facing local health departments (LHDs), and more. Discusses factors contributing to disparities and provides recommendations to support LHDs and improve public health in rural communities. Supplement contains figures depicting county-level data on life expectancy at birth as well as rural/urban differences in spending at LHDs and transfers to local governments.
Additional links: Supplement
Author(s): Jonathon Leider, Michael Meit, J. Mac McCullough, et al.
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1283-1290
Date: 09/2020
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COVID-19 Reveals Emerging Opportunities for Rural Public Health
Explores potential and existing public health innovations that rural communities can implement to address challenges brought on or exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, including lack of funding for local health departments, insufficient broadband, and more. Describes the expansion of telehealth services, discusses rural/urban disparities, and offers recommendations for improvement.
Author(s): Angela Dearinger
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1277-1278
Date: 09/2020
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A Public Health Lens on Rural Health
Presents an overview of an American Journal of Public Health issue that explores rural health matters within the framework of public health. Summarizes topics covered in the articles, including rural/urban disparities, shifts in funding sources for local health departments, implementation of telemedicine and mobile clinics, opioid use disorder, and more.
Author(s): Paul Erwin, Wendy Braund
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1275-1276
Date: 09/2020
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