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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

Differential Effects of a Social Work Staffing Intervention on Social Work Access Among Rural and Highly Rural Veterans: A Cohort Study
Presents a study on the efficacy of a VA program to expand access of social work services to rural veterans. Draws data from VA sites that participated in the program from October 2016 to September 2021. Compares social worker utilization by rural and urban veterans and breaks down data by age, race, and reason for visit, among other factors.
Author(s): Andrew N. Honken, Christopher W. Halladay, Lisa E. Wootton, et al.
Citation: Health Services Research, 59(S2), e14327
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
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County-Level Racial Disparities in Prostate Cancer–Specific Mortality from 2005 to 2020
Examines Black-White differences in prostate cancer mortality from 2005 to 2020, utilizing Area Health Resource File (AHRF) and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data. Compares county-level factors associated with change over time, including level of rurality.
Author(s): Samuel L Washington III, Mary Fakunle, Lufan Wang, et al.
Citation: JNCI Cancer Spectrum, 8(6), pkae109
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
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Nurse Practitioner Race and Ethnicity and Interest in Independent Primary Care Practice and Serving Medicaid Enrollees
Surveyed California nurse practitioners (NPs) to determine the current practice and practice intentions following scope of practice regulation changes in California. Presents 2023 data showing rurality of NPs by amount of primary care offered and Medicaid patient caseload currently and those considering independent primary care practice, among other characteristics.
Author(s): Ulrike Muench, Amy Quan, Rosalind de Lisser, Timothy Bates, Joanne Spetz
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 2(12)
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
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Methods Report Describing 2016-2021 HCUP Data in the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR)
Describes the preparation of Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data for use in the 2024 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report, which includes information on priority populations such as rural residents. Includes information on HCUP-based measures that include data by urban-rural location.
Author(s): R. Wang, S. Wang, X. Lin, et al.
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rate by Sub-Categories Through June 2024
Presents projections of traffic fatalities and the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled for the first half of 2024. Breaks down data by month, age, sex, and by rural versus urban roads, among other measures. Compares 2023 fatality data to 2024 rates by month for a number of indicators, including rural areas.
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
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State of the Behavioral Health Workforce, 2024
Offers demographic and occupational data on the behavioral health workforce including current and projected shortages. Data sources include both 2022 and 2023. Offers comparisons of shortages between rural and urban counties. Discusses challenges driving workforce shortages.
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Health Resources and Services Administration, National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
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State of the U.S. Maternal Health Workforce, 2024
Offers demographic and occupational data on the maternal health workforce. Data sources include various years between 2021 and 2023. Includes current and projected comparisons of the workforce with the female population of childbearing age. Table 7 includes distribution of maternal health physicians compared with the population of women of childbearing age for large metropolitan, medium metropolitan, small metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore areas in 2022.
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Health Resources and Services Administration, National Center for Health Workforce Analysis
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Residential Instability, Neighborhood Deprivation, and Outcomes for Children
Examines the effects of residential instability and neighborhood deprivation on children's educational outcomes via an analysis of North Carolina births, lead testing, and standardized testing score data. Includes data on differences in study outcomes based on movement between rural and urban areas.
Author(s): Mercedes A. Bravo, Dominique Zephyr, Marie Lynn Miranda
Citation: BMC Public Health, 24, 3343
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
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Roadblocks to Reporting: Examining Barriers that Deter Domestic Violence Victim-Survivors from Reporting to Law Enforcement in Rural Communities of Pennsylvania
Explores the lack of reporting from victim-survivors and the barriers they might face when reporting domestic violence and intimate partner violence to law enforcement. Highlights how barriers might differ among rural and urban Pennsylvanians, and how this might impact their ability to access services or resources from local victim service agencies.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Emily R. Strohacker
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Pennsylvania
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Characteristics of Older Adults Who Met Federal Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans: United States, 2022
Examines the percentage of adults aged 65 and older who meet weekly exercise guidelines according to age range, race/ethnicity, income, education, health status, metro versus nonmetro location, and U.S. region.
Author(s): Nazik Elgaddal, Ellen A. Kramarow
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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