Rural Health Disparities – Resources

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.
Type: Website
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.
Type: Journal/Newsletter
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.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
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POLARIS: Rural Health
Collection of CDC's policy-relevant research, data, and resources related to rural health issues. Provides an overview of challenges rural areas face and identifies public health strategies to address specific health concerns.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Index
Provides access to state and county-level comprehensive health scores based on over 300 health condition categories. Includes data by condition for the top 10 national conditions. Identifies top conditions impacting each state and county. Based on claims data of over 43 million Blue Cross Blue Shield commercially insured members.
Additional links: National Health Index
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Blue Cross Blue Shield
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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.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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MMWR Reports by Topic: Rural Health Disparities
A collection of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report articles focused on rural health issues.
Type: Website
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.
Type: Map/Mapping System
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.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
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U.S. Health Map
Interactive map that provides county-level data by gender on life expectancy, mortality rates, and risk factors, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, physical activity, cancer, alcohol use, and smoking.
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
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