Rural Health Disparities – Resources

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.
Sponsoring organization: National Cancer Institute
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Health Equity Toolkit for Rural and Remote Communities
Educational toolkit outlining health equity and steps that rural and remote public health organizations can take to improve health equity. Discusses rural challenges impacting health equity. Offers a curriculum to support staff discussion sessions, procedures for conducting a community health survey, and a session evaluation tool. Email address required to access toolkit documents.
Sponsoring organizations: OMNI Institute, Pitkin County Public Health, Silver Thread Public Health District
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Life and Health in Rural America
Series of articles based on reports by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on life and health in rural America.
Sponsoring organizations: NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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Journal of Appalachian Health
Highlights issues relating to the health and wellness of rural Appalachian communities. Features peer-reviewed, open access research on health outcomes in Appalachia.
Sponsoring organization: University of Kentucky College of Public Health
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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Rural Health
Features rural health initiatives, articles, and other related content to demonstrate the connection between health, rural community and economic development.
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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CDC Rural Health
Provides an overview of rural health concerns, access to CDC-produced reports highlighting rural health issues, and examples of resources and successful approaches to improve health in rural communities. Topics addressed include a range of public health and population health concerns.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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MMWR Reports by Topic: Rural Health
A collection of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report articles focused on rural health issues.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Mapping Medicare Disparities
Provides access to county-level data and comparisons on chronic disease prevalence, Medicare spending, hospital and emergency department utilization, preventive services, and preventable hospitalizations, readmissions, and mortality rates for Medicare beneficiaries. Also offers 2018 Medicare Advantage encounter data. Includes hospital-level quality of care and cost of care data and comparisons as well as social determinants of health data for both the Medicare and non-Medicare population down to the census tract level.
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Exploring Rural and Urban Mortality Differences
Offers a variety of data tables and online tools that display indicators of mortality rates by age, rurality, region, and sex to help researchers examine the impact of rurality on mortality.
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
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U.S. Health Map
Interactive map that provides county-level data by sex on life expectancy, mortality rates, and risk factors, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, physical activity, cancer, alcohol use, and smoking.
Sponsoring organization: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
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