Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Racial and ethnic groups

Engaging Community Health Workers/Youth Ambassadors to Improve Health Literacy: Proceedings of a Workshop – in Brief
Summarizes presentations and discussions from an April 2023 workshop on the use of community health workers and youth ambassadors to promote health literacy in their communities. Highlights lessons learned by Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19 and the National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities (NIMIC) grantees who implemented health literacy approaches in community health worker and youth ambassador programs. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
view details
Although IHS Allocated COVID-19 Testing Funds to Meet Community Needs, It Did Not Ensure That the Funds Were Always Used in Accordance with Federal Requirements
Presents results of an audit of Indian Health Service (IHS) funds for COVID-19 testing. Examines if 10 IHS Direct, Tribal, and Urban Indian Organizations (UIO) in the Great Plains Area Office allocated COVID-19 testing funds to meet community needs, the effectiveness of the funding allocation, and if the funding was used in accordance with federal requirements. Outlines recommendations to IHS, as well as IHS comments and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Office of the Inspector General's response.
Additional links: Report in Brief
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
view details
Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics Summary File for Guam
Highlights a new data release from the 2020 Census for Guam. Presents updated demographic, social, economic, and housing data. Discusses the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on data collection.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
view details
Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics Summary File for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Highlights a new data release from the 2020 Census for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Presents updated demographic, social, economic, and housing data.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
view details
Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census DHC Summary File for American Samoa
Highlights a new data release from the 2020 Census for American Samoa. Presents updated demographic, social, economic, and housing data. Discusses the effect the COVID-19 pandemic had on data collection.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
view details
Targeted Provider Relief Funds Allocated to Hospitals Had Some Differences with Respect to the Ethnicity and Race of Populations Served
Examines how early Provider Relief Fund Targeted Distributions (Targeted PRF) in 2020 correlated with the racial, ethnic, and economic characteristics of the communities providers serve. Analyzes the Targeted PRF allocations to hospitals and explores if there are statistically significant correlations between PRF per person and the racial, ethnic, and economic composition of the census tracts. Covers four Targeted PRF allocations to COVID-19 High Impact Area Hospitals, Safety Net Hospitals, Rural Hospitals, and Indian Health Service and Tribal Hospitals. Identifies and describes trends in the allotment to rural hospitals.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
view details
Perceived Barriers and Benefits of COVID-19 Testing among Pacific Islanders on Guam
Results of a project aiming to promote COVID-19 testing among Pacific Islanders using culturally relevant community-tailored strategies with culturally and linguistically appropriate educational materials, and to identify the factors associated with COVID-19 testing. Uses data collected from June 2021 to July 2022.
Author(s): Rachael T. Leon Guerrero, Angelina G. Mummert, Dareon C. Rios, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(13), 6302
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
view details
Accommodation and Acceptability of Health Care by Non-Metropolitan/Metropolitan and Race/Ethnicity Status
Provides an overview of the "5 A's of Access" in healthcare: availability, accessibility, affordability, accommodation, and acceptability. Uses data from the 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to explore differences in accommodation and acceptability in rural and urban areas of eight states. Presents data on non-financial reasons for delaying care and satisfaction with the care received by urban/rural status and among rural respondents by race and ethnicity.
Author(s): Whitney E. Zahnd, Radhika Ranganathan, Elizabeth L. Crouch, et al.
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
view details
Indian Health Service: Actions Needed to Improve Use of Data on Adverse Events
Examines how the Indian Health Service (IHS) uses its electronic health record system to monitor healthcare quality and adverse events at federally-operated facilities. Discusses how IHS informs clinicians and patients about options for telehealth use. Offers recommendations to IHS regarding regularly reviewing adverse event trends, making improvements, and disseminating best practices.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
COVID-19 Working Paper: Obesity Prevalence Among U.S. Adult Subpopulations During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Explores obesity disparities among adults before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the first year of the pandemic. Uses data from the 2011-2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to estimate changes in obesity rates and compares rates across demographic and socioeconomic subgroups, including urban-rural status, Census region, age group, race and ethnicity, and more.
Author(s): Mariah D. Ehmke, Brandon J. Restrepo
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
view details