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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Rural-urban differences

Rural-Urban Disparities in Cancer
Provides data and maps reflecting cancer incidence and mortality, comparing rural, nonmetro urban, and metro counties. Explores urban and rural disparities regarding cancer type, access to healthcare for rural residents, risk factors for cancer incidence, and preventative care.
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Cancer Institute
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COVID-19 Hospital Encounters by Urban-Rural Location of the Hospital by Week From Selected Hospitals
Line chart showing hospitals' percentage of confirmed COVID-19 encounters among all emergency department or inpatient encounters. Includes data from March 2020 through December 2023 for large central and fringe metro areas, medium and small metro areas, and rural areas.
Type: Chart/Graph
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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State Approaches for Addressing Rural Social Determinants of Health
Recommends state and federal tactics to improve social determinants of health and address rural health disparities. Covers transportation, broadband, income, and educational attainment.
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
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Data for Rural Analysis
A collection of resources to help policymakers and researchers identify and describe rural and urban areas. Lists tools that can be used to determine rural status and degree of rurality and find county-level socioeconomic data. Also identifies other sources of rural data.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Allied Health Workforce Projections, 2016-2030: Community Health Workers
Offers demand projections for community health workers (CHWs) from 2016-2030, using data from the Health Resources and Services Administration's Health Workforce Simulation Model. Includes projected statistics for various care coordination scenarios, including a rural healthcare scenario.
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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Bureau of Health Workforce Clinician Dashboards
Offers data tools and information on retention and distribution of participants who have completed their training or service in Bureau of Health Workforce programs from 2012-2022. Shows retention rates for National Health Service Corps and Nurse Corps alumni and includes filters for various clinician, program, location, and site characteristics. Features statistics with breakdowns by percentages of clinicians currently working in Health Professional Shortage Areas or working in rural communities.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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HRSA Map Tool
A map-based interface for viewing a variety of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs and grant awards, as well as supporting data from other sources. Includes data for rural health areas, border counties, the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Initiative region, and more. Other items available to map include health workforce shortage areas, healthcare facility locations, and poverty data.
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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CDC WONDER Underlying Cause of Death with US-Mexico Border Regions, 1999-2020
Provides access to mortality and population data for the U.S.-Mexico border region. Offers data on the number of deaths, crude and age-adjusted death rates, and demographics for different causes of death. Cause of death data available for ICD-10 codes, drug/alcohol induced causes, causes of infant death, and injury intent and mechanism. In addition to viewing data for the border region, border states, and border counties, results can also focus on the level of urbanization for metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore areas.
Type: Database
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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data.census.gov
Provides access to data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau. Includes the American Community Survey (ACS) with socioeconomic and demographic data and the ability to narrow to rural data.
Type: Database
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
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Delineating Rural Areas in the United States
A poster presentation identifying the common federal rural definitions useful for addressing rural-urban disparities. Demonstrates, by using population characteristics including poverty, uninsured, and disabled data, how each rural definition can affect the sensitivity of the disparity.
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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