Rural Health Disparities – Resources

Using Wastewater to Overcome Health Disparities among Rural Residents
Highlights health disparities in rural America and the potential for wastewater surveillance as a tool to address disparities. Discusses the use of wastewater surveillance during COVID-19 and in under-resourced locations in South Africa.
Author(s): Rochelle H. Holm, Gina Pocock, Marie A. Severson, et al.
Citation: Geoforum, 144, 103816
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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Sexual Minorities Are Not a Homogeneous Population: Health Disparity Differences Based on Residence in Rural Versus Urban Settings
Evaluated 210,392 sexual minorities (SMs) between 2015 and 2019 to determine whether rural SMs are at increased risk for chronic disease. Includes discussion of insurance status, gender, rural and urban comparisons, and multiple chronic illnesses.
Author(s): Ethan Morgan, Kathryn Lancaster, Yootapichai Phosri, Janelle Ricks, Christina Dyar
Citation: Rural and Remote Health, 23(3), 8052
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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Disparities in Cancer Mortality Patterns: A Comprehensive Examination of U.S. Rural and Urban Adults, 1999–2020
Analyzes cancer mortality rates over a 20-year period to observe rural versus urban disparities. Utilizes National Center for Health Statistics data with rural versus urban data breakdowns by type of cancer, race/ethnicity, and sex.
Author(s): Itunu O. Sokale, Syed Ahsan Raza, Aaron P. Thrift
Citation: Cancer Medicine, 12(18), 18988-18998
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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Working Towards Health Equity in the Rural Space
Podcast episode featuring a discussion with Terry Scoggin, CEO of Titus Regional Medical Center in northeast Texas, and Ben Anderson, Vice President of Rural Health and Hospitals for the Colorado Hospital Association, on how they are working to promote health equity in rural areas.
Date: 08/2023
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Where You Live Matters: Maternity Care Deserts and the Crisis of Access and Equity
Provides interactive state-by-state data on maternity care deserts in the U.S. Focuses on access, distance to maternity care, availability of family planning services, disparities in prenatal care, chronic health conditions and preterm birth, policy solutions, and more. Includes county-level maps of data as well as accompanying state summaries, infographics, and downloadable reports.
Date: 08/2023
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: March of Dimes
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Disparities in Melanoma Outcomes In Urban Versus Rural Settings: An Analysis from the Nebraska Cancer Registry 2001-2016
A research letter that analyzes health disparities related to melanoma outcomes in rural versus urban populations. Examines 9,688 individuals with melanoma between 2001 and 2016 utilizing the Nebraska Cancer Registry to observe the mortality rate of patients when considering rurality, race, sex, age, and stage/site of the cancer.
Author(s): Elizabeth M. Mata, Natalia Trinidad, Elliot Blue, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 89(2), 350-352
Date: 08/2023
Type: Document
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Rural-Urban Differences in Health Care Unaffordability
Analyzes healthcare unaffordability in rural versus urban contexts as well as mitigating sociodemographic variables. Examines 90,761 survey responses from the 2019-2021 National Health Interview Survey according to 3 levels of unaffordability, further breaking down the data by race/ethnicity, sex, income, self-rated health, insurance type, education, age, and rural versus urban location.
Author(s): Hannah MacDougall, Daniel Mork, Stephanie Hanson, Carrie Henning Smith
Citation: The Journal of Rural Health, 40(2), 376-385
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
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Mapping Health Disparities in 11 High-Income Nations
Analyzes 11 high-income countries, including the U.S., for geographic health disparities related to socioeconomics, affordability, and access. Discusses factors where rural residency is either protective or a risk. Compares health disparities of U.S. rural residents with those of the other countries studied.
Author(s): Neil J. MacKinnon, Vanessa Emery, Jennifer Waller, et al.
Citation: JAMA Network Open, 6(7)
Date: 07/2023
Type: Document
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Oral Health Disparities Through the Lifespan: Challenges and Opportunities
Recording of a June 7, 2023, conference session on oral health disparities as part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Equity Conference. Features a presentation from the CMS Office of the Administrator comparing differences in rural and urban dental opioid prescribing to adolescent/young adult and adult Medicaid/CHIP enrollees by patient and county characteristics. Transcript available below description.
Additional links: Carla Shoff, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of the Administrator - Presentation Slides
Date: 06/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Spatial Clustering of COVID-19 Mortality Rates across Counties and by Noncore, Micropolitan, and Metropolitan County Characteristics, December 2020–January 2021
Policy brief examining the county-level clusters of COVID-19 mortality when pandemic levels were at their peak, and how characteristics of counties with high and low mortality rates during the study period varied. Features county-level maps showing mortality rates, and statistics with breakdowns by noncore, micropolitan, and metropolitan locations.
Author(s): Whitney E. Zahnd, Khyathi Gadag, Fred Ullrich, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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