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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Social connectedness

The Health and Social Impacts of the Maui Wildfires: Post-Disaster Care from a Sociocultural Lens
Highlights the impact of a wildfire event on existing health and social service disparities in Maui, Hawaii. Discusses housing, employment, finances, mental health, suicide risk, culture, social isolation, rurality, and service limitations. Notes opportunities and challenges for addressing these impacts using telehealth and outside assistance.
Author(s): Ryan Holliday, Lauren S. Krishnamurti, Shiloh E. Jordan, et al.
Citation: Hawai'i Journal of Health & Social Welfare, 83(3), 85-87
Date: 03/2024
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Aging Our Way, PA: A Plan for Lifelong Independence
Draft of a master plan for aging (MPA) for Pennsylvania. Highlights 5 priorities areas and their associated strategies and tactics related to access to services, aging in place, independence, caregiving, and awareness building. Includes rural throughout.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Pennsylvania Department of Aging
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NCHS Rapid Surveys System: Round 5 - Positive Childhood Experiences, Attitudes on Childhood Vaccines
Interactive data on positive childhood experiences and attitudes on childhood vaccination from July 2024. Includes tables and charts on support systems, neighborhood infrastructure, social connection, sources of information for childhood vaccines, and vaccine accessibility. Breaks down data by various demographics including urbanicity.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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VHA 2024 State of Innovation Report
Reports on innovative programs and services in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration. Highlights pilot projects, projects being planned, and projects already implemented at local VA facilities. Discusses rural projects related to physical therapy, telehealth for podiatry and dentistry, and social connection.
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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Systems Of Cross-Sector Integration and Action across the Lifespan (SOCIAL) Framework Report
Discusses the Systems Of Cross-sector Integration and Action across the Lifespan (SOCIAL) Framework that explores social determinants of health and opportunities for collaboration across sectors. Provides strategies to address built environment and improve social connectedness among local citizens. Includes considerations and examples from rural areas.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Ashley Krombach, Erin Peavey, Risa Wilkerson, Abigail Barth
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Foundation for Social Connection
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Identifying Our Needs: A Survey of Elders Cycle VIII (2020-2023) - 2024 Final Report
Report highlights data collected from a survey of American Indian and Alaska Native elders regarding their health and wellness. Explores reported rates of healthcare access, substance use, social support, housing, healthcare screening, and more.
Additional links: Infographic: Caregiving and Socialization Among Native Elders, Infographic: Frailty and Physical Functioning Among Native Elders, Infographic: Native Elders in the United States, Infographic: Nutrition Among Native Elders
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: National Resource Center on Native American Aging
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Primary Care Professionals' Perspectives on Tailoring Buprenorphine Training for Rural Practice
Interviewed 23 rural Ohio primary care professionals to identify barriers to prescribing buprenorphine for opioid use disorder treatment. Discusses the need for training addressing rural-specific barriers, limited patient access to required social supports, workforce, and stigma. Offers recommendations based on findings.
Author(s): Cheyenne Fenstemaker, Elizabeth A. Abrams, Benjamin Obringer, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 40(4), 671-680
Date: 2024
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Women Veterans: The Journey to Mental Wellness
Report discussing mental health for female veterans. Discusses topics including suicide prevention with a focus on rural issues, abuse and violence, substance use, eating disorders, social connectedness, maternity, and care coordination. Offers policy and research recommendations to the Veterans Health Administration.
Additional links: Quick Glance
Date: 2024
Sponsoring organization: Disabled American Veterans
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Rural-Urban Differences in Social and Emotional Protective Factors and Their Association with Child Health and Flourishing
Examines differences in childhood protective factors in rural and urban communities that correlate with childhood health and wellness. Utilizes 2018-2021 data from the National Survey of Children's Health to analyze protective factors such as caregiver emotional and social support, caregiver mental and physical health, family resilience and connectedness, neighborhood and school safety, and more. Includes rural versus urban comparisons with data further broken down by race/ethnicity, sex, age, health status, and marriage status of caregiver.
Author(s): Rose Y. Hardy, Samantha J. Boch, Mattina A. Davenport, Laura J. Chavez, Kelly J. Kelleher
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 40(2), 314-325
Date: 2024
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A Community-Engaged Approach to Understanding Suicide in a Small Rural County in Georgia: A Two-Phase Content Analysis of Individual and Focus Group Interviews
Evaluates the need for suicide prevention and appropriateness of prevention efforts in a rural Georgia county by presenting analysis of 20 individual interviews and 2 focus groups conducted August 2021-June 2022. Covers individual and community contextual drivers of suicide, facilitators and barriers of medical and social support access, linkage gaps in mental health care services, and community response. Discusses schools, a military base, nonprofit and religious organizations, and other institutional supports for suicide prevention.
Author(s): Kimberly Beth Roth, Eleni Gaveras, Fatima Ghiathi, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(24), 7145
Date: 12/2023
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