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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Population health

Leveraging the Built Environment for Health Equity: Promising Interventions for Small and Medium-Size Cities
Examines changes small and medium-size cities can make to the built environment to promote health. Identifies promising practices related to developing interventions and overcoming implementation challenges. Includes discussion of the needs of small rural cities.
Author(s): Martha Fedorowicz, Joe Schilling, Emily Bramhall, et al.
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Urban Institute
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Oversight Hearing on "Evaluating the Response and Mitigation to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Native Communities" and Legislative Hearing to Receive Testimony on S. 3650
Presents the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs oversight hearing on the response to COVID-19 in tribal communities. Features testimony from representatives from the Indian Health Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, and the National Indian Health Board.
Additional links: Lisa Elgin Testimony, Michael D. Weahkee Testimony, Robert J. Fenton, Jr. Testimony, Scott J. Davis Testimony
Date: 07/2020
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
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Update: COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities ― United States, April-May 2020
Provides data from 28 states on the number of meat and poultry processing facilities affected by COVID-19, characteristics of affected workers, and COVID-19–associated deaths among workers. Data on cases and deaths through May 31, 2020 were obtained from 239 affected facilities. Also describes interventions and prevention efforts at these facilities.
Author(s): Michelle A. Waltenburg, Tristan Victoroff, Charles E. Rose, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 69(27), 887-892
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Pennsylvania Hospital Transitions HRSA-Funded Program to Online Services and Addresses COVID-19 Stress
Features Butler Memorial Hospital and how it adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights the switch to online delivery for a chronic disease project funded by a HRSA Rural Health Care Services Outreach grant. Also describes initiatives to address healthcare workforce stress, help patients use tablets to visit with loved ones, and distribute healthy food to the community.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Supporting the Health and Wellbeing of Middle-Aged Adults Living Alone in Rural Counties
Results of a study exploring the characteristics of adults ages 35-64 who live alone, and the heightened health risks and challenges related to social isolation, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Uses data from a survey of 14 healthcare providers in rural counties with a high percentage of middle-aged adults living alone. Features a county-level map with breakdowns by percentage of people living alone in rural areas.
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith, Mariana Tuttle, Ashley Hernandez, Jonathan Schroeder, Katy Kozhimannil
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Widening Rural-Urban Cardiometabolic Mortality Gap in the United States, 1999 to 2017
Examines mortality related to cardiometabolic disease in rural and urban populations of the United States. Utilizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Wide Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) from 1999 to 2017 to provide statistics on heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes mortality by race, sex, and rurality.
Author(s): Nilay S. Shah, Mercedes Carnethon, Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, Sadiya S. Khan
Citation: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 75(25), 3187-3188
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
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RWHC Hospital Trustee Manual
Collection of brief articles covering hospital governance. Includes meeting ground rules, responsibilities and liabilities of non-profit directors, board self-assessment, ensuring quality care, financial stewardship, population health improvement, leadership development, and advocacy for rural health, among other topics.
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
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Residential Proximity to Oil and Gas Development and Birth Outcomes in California: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 2006–2015 Births
Investigates relationship between residential proximity to oil and gas development (OGD) and adverse birth outcomes. Explores data of 2.9 million births to mothers living within 10km of OGD in rural areas and the relationship to low birth weight, preterm birth, and small for gestational age birth. Includes rural versus urban comparisons.
Author(s): Kathy V. Tran, Joan A. Casey, Lara J. Cushing, Rachel Morello-Frosch
Citation: Environmental Health Perspectives, 128(6)
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
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COVID-19 Testing & Testing Related Activities with CDC Experts
Recording of a June 4, 2020, webinar providing detailed information about testing for COVID-19 for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). Discusses specimen collections and handling, patient priority for testing, antibody testing, and interpreting viral and antibody COVID-19 test results. Part of the Rural Health Clinic Technical Assistance Series.
Additional links: Presentation Slides, Transcript
Date: 06/2020
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Rural Health Clinics
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Sociodemographic Determinants of Acute Myocardial Infarction Hospitalization Risks in Florida
Identifies sociodemographic determinants of myocardial infarction (MI) hospitalization risks and assesses whether the impacts of these determinants vary by geographic location. Features statistics with breakdown by rural location and county-level maps showing the spacial distribution of MI hospitalization risks in Florida from 2005-2014.
Author(s): Evah Wangui Odoi, Nicholas Nagle, Russell Zaretzki, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Heart Association, 9(11)
Date: 06/2020
Type: Document
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