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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Schools

Bringing Pandemic Science to the Classroom: Building Public Health Capacity at a Rural Kentucky High School
Examines the multidisciplinary Wastewater Assessment for Coronavirus in Kentucky: Implementing Enhanced Surveillance Technology (WACKIEST) unit created for high school students to study the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. Discusses wastewater testing, public health surveillance, and public health education.
Author(s): Sahar Alameh, Anna G Hoover, James W Keck, et al.
Citation: Public Health Reports, 141(1), 17-23
Date: 01/2025
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Assessing the Needs of Rural Families Affected by the Opioid Crisis: Issue Brief and Recommendations to the Secretary
Explores the considerations for addressing social determinants of health that influence opioid use disorder (OUD) and the role of community efforts in prevention, treatment, and recovery in rural areas, with a focus on prevention efforts in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Discusses youth and family prevention and well-being; stigma; adverse childhood experience; school-based health centers and youth and family resource centers; access to stable housing, food, and other social supports; the importance of trusted community resources for support; and workforce. Offers recommendations related to reducing stigma and promoting the enhanced utilization of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) to help rural communities address OUD and substance use disorders.
Date: 01/2025
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Disparities in Allergy and Asthma Prevalence among Schoolteachers
Examines prevalence of allergic and respiratory symptoms among 398 schoolteachers in Massachusetts. Includes comparisons between teachers in rural, suburban, and urban schools for health behaviors and factors associated with adverse breathing symptoms, including headache, sleep apnea, food allergy, nighttime awakening, sore throat, and more.
Author(s): Hana B. Ruran, Briana L. Mallouh, Lisa M. Bartnikas, Wanda Phipatanakul, Abhinav Kaushik
Citation: The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 155(1), 223-227
Date: 01/2025
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New Mexico School-Based Health Centers: Annual Status Report 2023-2024
Provides an overview of the school-based health centers (SBHCs) located in elementary, middle and high schools and the primary care and behavioral health services they provide. Offers a county map of SBHCs along with the county's social vulnerability as measured by the Social Vulnerability Index.
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organization: New Mexico Department of Health
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School Active Shooter Drills: Mitigating Risks to Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health
Examines the impact of school active shooter drills and strategies to improve school safety while mitigating potential student mental health issues. Includes commentary on the impact of active shooter drills on rural schools and differences in community resources, behavioral health staffing, threat assessment teams, and more.
Author(s): Board on Children, Youth, and Families
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Why Rural Matters 2025: People, Place, and Possibility
Describes educational, social, and health outcomes associated with rural schools. Includes state-level data, rankings, and comparisons to the U.S. as a whole.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Maps, State-by-State Results
Author(s): Daniel Showalter, Sara L. Hartman, Karen Eppley, Jerry Johnson, Bob Klein
Date: 2025
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Education Association
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Creating a Culture of Safety: A Rural School's Story
Discusses educational issues such as mental health concerns, absenteeism, and disciplinary problems and ways to address them. Profiles the rural Silver Creek Central School District (SCCSD) in New York and their strategies to create belonging, improve mental health and community support, and provide behavioral interventions.
Author(s): Melissa Rivers, Katie Ralston
Citation: The Rural Educator, 46(6), 41-45
Date: 2025
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A Multi-State Evaluation of Agricultural Safety Learning through Secondary Students' Supervised Agricultural Experience Journal Entries
Analyzes student work-based journal reflections to assess the influence of an agricultural machinery safety training for high school students in Montana, Utah, and South Dakota. Discusses the association between instructor training and student safety journaling.
Author(s): Scott W. Smalley, Dustin K. Perry, Rebecca G. Lawver, et al.
Citation: Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 31(3), 245-256
Date: 2025
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Factors Associated with Early Sexual Onset and Delaying Sex in Rural Middle School Youth
Examines results from a survey administered prior to a sexual health program aimed at rural middle school youth. Analyzes data from 6,799 students and the variables related to abstinence, sexual health knowledge, parental communication, intentions to abstain from sexual activity, and more. Discusses impacts of access to comprehensive and trauma-informed sex education.
Author(s): Teresa M. Imburgia, Devon J. Hensel, Abby Hunt, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 41(2)
Date: 2025
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Evaluation of a Pilot College Student-Based Physical Activity Implementation Strategy in a Rural Middle School
Evaluates a college student-led physical activity program in a rural Indiana middle school to determine feasibility related to recruitment, retention, implementation, attendance, acceptability, and cost. Discusses challenges with implementation in rural settings.
Author(s): Megan M. Kwaiser, Andrew M. Medellin, Janette M. Watkins, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(12), 1645
Date: 12/2024
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