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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Research methods and resources

In Search of Rural: How Varying Definitions Shape Housing Research
Describes the effect of rural definitions on rural housing research. Categorizes rural definitions by type, and compares data produced by applying 11 rural definitions to 2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Discusses definition impacts on estimated rural demographics and housing stock, characteristics, and challenges. Includes state-by-state estimates of rural population share for each definition.
Author(s): Alexander Hermann, Whitney Airgood-Obrycki
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS)
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Digital Health Interventions for All? Examining Inclusivity Across All Stages of the Digital Health Intervention Research Process
Discusses the benefits of digital health interventions as well as the digital health divide that creates barriers to inclusive research processes. Highlights study design interventions during the recruitment, enrollment, engagement, efficacy/effectiveness, and retention stages that can contribute to inclusivity for underserved populations, including rural.
Author(s): Rebecca A. Krukowski, Kathryn M. Ross, Max J. Western, et al.
Citation: Trials, 25, 98
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
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Unequal Treatment Revisited - The Current State of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Proceedings of a Workshop
Highlights the proceedings of a workshop on addressing racial and ethnic disparities and equitable healthcare delivery. Presents care perspectives for American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities, among others. Discusses health equity research strategies and challenges.
Author(s): Board on Health Care Services
Date: 01/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Toward a Framework to Improve Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summarizes a May 2024 workshop discussing opportunities for increasing racial and ethnic diversity in clinical trials. Report discusses community engagement, data best practices, access to trials in their communities, perspectives of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and cross-sector collaborations. Includes information on community-based research, ethics, and relationship building within tribal communities as well as infrastructure challenges in rural clinical trial site selection.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): National Cancer Policy Forum
Date: 2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Recruitment in Appalachian, Rural and Older Adult Populations in an Artificial Intelligence World: Study Using Human-Mediated Follow-Up
Evaluates the effectiveness of a research study recruitment strategy using multiple contact methods for the rural, older adult population in Appalachian Pennsylvania. Includes rural and urban comparisons within Appalachian Pennsylvania and discusses common barriers to research participation for this group.
Author(s): Tabitha Milliken, Donielle Beiler, Samantha Hoffman, Ashlee Olenginski, Vanessa Troiani
Citation: JMIR Formative Research, 8(2024), 38189
Date: 2024
Type: Document
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The Social Vulnerability of Farmworker Communities in North Central Florida: Challenges and Opportunities for Mapping Vulnerable Populations
Describes an emergency preparedness project to develop social vulnerability indicators and conduct geospatial mapping analysis of the places that farmworkers live and work in north central Florida. Discusses collaborations with farmworker-focused community based organizations and community advisory boards, ethics, and public health implications of the work. Includes recommendations to public health workers and policymakers interested in farmworker communities.
Author(s): Miranda Carver Martin, Amr Abd-Elrahman, Paul Monaghan
Date: 2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Natural Hazards Center
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Advancing Research on Chronic Conditions in Women
Examines gaps in what is known about chronic conditions that affect women differently or are specific to or predominantly impact women. Includes insights specific to underserved rural women. Offers recommendations for a research agenda, one of which is inclusion of rural women in studies.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on a Framework for the Consideration of Chronic Debilitating Conditions in Women
Date: 2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Serious Illness Care Research: Exploring Current Knowledge, Emerging Evidence, and Future Directions: Proceedings of a Workshop
Reports proceedings of a November 2023 workshop on serious illness care research. Includes content of presentations and discussions on lived experience of affected individuals, current and future state of the field, approaches to addressing research gaps, barriers and facilitators to health equity in research, and translation to practice. Pages 76-79 include discussion of rural health equity in palliative care.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Board on Health Care Services
Date: 2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2024: Achieving the Bold Vision of Health Equity
Discusses cancer disparities with focus on race and ethnicity, rural and other medically underserved populations, social determinants of health, research, related health conditions, screening, mortality, workforce, and public policy. Discusses rural throughout including rural and urban comparisons.
Date: 2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Association for Cancer Research
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How Rural Is All of Us? Comparing Characteristics of Rural Participants in the National Institute of Health's All of Us Research Program to Other National Data Sources
Compares the All of Us health research dataset that utilizes self-reported rurality to other nationally representative data sources that represent rurality. Discusses implications of using the All for Us dataset as a proxy measure of rurality in health research.
Author(s): Janessa M. Graves, Shawna R. Beese, Demetrius A. Abshire, Kevin J. Bennett
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 40(4), 745-751
Date: 2024
Type: Document
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