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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Veterans

VA and Indian Health Service: Actions Needed to Strengthen Oversight and Coordination of Health Care for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans
Report discusses the relationship between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) with regard to providing care to American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. Details the cooperative agreement between the two entities and the ways their efforts could be improved.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Vietnam-Era Veterans Represent the Largest Share of All Rural Veterans
Bar chart showing the rural and urban veteran population by service period, based on 2017 American Community Survey data.
Date: 03/2019
Type: Chart/Graph
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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Healthcare Professionals' Views of Palliative Care for American War Veterans with Non-malignant Respiratory Disease Living in a Rural Area: A Qualitative Study
Discussed the views of healthcare professionals on palliative care for rural veterans with chronic lung diseases in Idaho. Highlights the providers' perception of veterans' understanding of the disease and it's progression, as well as barriers to palliative care services.
Author(s): Clare Mc Veigh, Joanne Reid, Paula Carvalho
Citation: BMC Palliative Care, 18, 22
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
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Health System Interventions to Prevent Firearms Injuries and Death: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summarizes the proceedings of a workshop focused on how healthcare systems can reduce gun violence and injuries. Discusses the impact of health systems on the reduction, ways to identify high risk individuals, health system interventions, program examples, and more. Addresses rural in several chapters, including firearm homicide and suicide rates for rural and urban areas, a VA program targeting rural veterans at risk for suicide, a study of gun behavior in Alaska Native populations, and recommendations from a rural physician.
Additional links: Interactive Overview of Workshop Proceedings, Read Online
Author(s): Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Evidence Brief: Video Telehealth for Primary Care and Mental Health Service
Details an investigation by the Veterans Health Administration into video telehealth as a means of delivering primary and mental healthcare to veterans. Highlights advantages for increasing access for rural veterans.
Additional links: Supplemental Materials
Author(s): Stephanie Veazie, Donald Bourne, Kim Peterson, Johanna Anderson
Date: 02/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: VA Health Services Research & Development Service
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Access to Care among Rural Veterans
A brief that discusses health disparities and access challenges for rural veterans. Includes chart showing rural versus urban prevalence of chronic health conditions.
Date: 2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration
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State Strategies for Averting Early Deaths: Innovations and Best Practices for Preventing Suicide
Reports on an exchange of state-level best practices for preventing suicide. Identifies lessons learned with a focus on three categories: cross-sector collaboration; strategic partnerships including with tribal and veterans organizations; and upstream prevention efforts, including school programs. Briefly addresses challenges for rural and tribal communities. Highlights model programs from Colorado, Washington, Idaho, and Utah.
Date: 2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Governors Association
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Taking Flight: Charity Airplane Services Transport Patients to Medical Care
Highlights the role charitable flight services play in helping get rural patients to needed healthcare services. Features programs that serve veterans, cancer patients, the chronically ill, and abused children.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 12/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Unemployment Rate for Rural Veterans at Its Lowest since Before the Great Recession
Line chart showing the unemployment rate for rural veterans and rural nonveterans from 2007 through 2017. Also shows the unemployment rate for young rural veterans, ages 18 to 34.
Date: 11/2018
Type: Chart/Graph
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
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VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018 (VA MISSION Act; P.L.115-182)
Provides an overview of the changes made to the VA MISSION Act, including establishing a permanent Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP) and provisions to help recruit and retain healthcare providers. Discusses provisions specific to healthcare access for veterans in rural and underserved areas.
Date: 11/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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