Conducting Rural Health Research, Needs Assessments, and Program Evaluations – Resources

Data Sources and Data-Linking Strategies to Support Research to Address the Opioid Crisis: Final Report
Identifies and describes secondary data sources that can be used in research and evaluations related to the opioid crisis. Discusses common approaches used to link or merge data sources. Describes research needs and challenges related to studying the opioid crisis.
Author(s): Rosanna Smart, Courtney Ann Kase, Amanda Meyer, Bradley D. Stein
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, RAND Corporation
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U.S. Small-Area Life Expectancy Estimates Project: Methodology and Results Summary
Describes the methodology used to determine the first set of abridged period life tables for U.S. census tracts from 2010 to 2015 for the District of Columbia and all states excluding Maine and Wisconsin. Provides statistics on small-area life expectancy at birth, and life expectancy at birth and population educational attainment by census tract.
Author(s): Elizabeth Arias, Loraine A. Escobedo, Jocelyn Kennedy, Chunxia Fu, Jodi Cisewski
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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The Death Certificate: A Document to be Honored and Accurate
Provides an overview of the role that death certificates play in understanding death causation and in allocating health resources to address key health concerns. Discusses training approaches that can help address death certificate inaccuracies.
Author(s): Kay Miller Temple
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 08/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Issues in Developing Multidimensional Indices of State-level Health Inequalities: National Health Interview Survey, 2013–2015
Examines methodological issues related to developing and estimating health inequality measures that span multiple dimensions of health. One of the inequality attributes included in the discussion is urbanicity, based on the NCHS urban-rural classification scheme.
Author(s): Makram Talih, Maria A. Villarroel
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Improving Health Research on Small Populations: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summary of a January 2018 workshop focused on health research with small population groups, including rural populations. Discusses the challenges of small population health research and innovative approaches related to study design, data collection, and statistical analysis to address these challenges.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 05/2018
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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The IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network: Building Research Capacity among the Rural and Medically Underserved
Describes the activities of the IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network, a product of the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program developed to enhance the competitiveness of research in states with low success rates for funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH). IDeA states exhibit high numbers of rural and medically underserved populations along with high rates of infant mortality, obesity, and poverty. Describes work underway to increase research capacity and access to clinical trials in the IDeA states. Introduces two proposed novel clinical trials with interventions for children who are overweight or obese.
Author(s): Jessica Snowden, Paul Darden, Paul Palumbo, Phil Saul, Jeannette Lee
Citation: Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 30(2), 297-302
Date: 04/2018
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Range Matters: Rural Averages Can Conceal Important Information
Findings brief showing how research focusing on averages without considering data range can conceal important information about average rural hospital profitability, distance between hospitals, and HIV prevalence by county.
Author(s): Meagan Clawar, Kristie Thompson, George H. Pink
Date: 01/2018
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Assessing Local Capacity to Expand Rural Breast Cancer Screening and Patient Navigation: An Iterative Mixed-Method Tool
Report on the development of a mixed-method tool for assessing county capacity as part of a needs assessment process, describing outcomes in rural North Texas counties. Discusses the expansion of the Breast Screening and Patient Navigation (BSPAN) program into a hub-and-spoke delivery model to strengthen networks of community clinics, community groups, and nonprofit organizations. Offers qualitative and quantitative data on changes over the development period.
Author(s): Stephen J. Inrig, Robin T. Higashi, Jasmin A. Tiro, Keith E. Argenbright, Simon J. Craddock Lee
Citation: Evaluation and Program Planning, 61, 113-124
Date: 04/2017
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Identifying Rural Health Clinics in Medicaid Data
Describes and compares 6 different tested methods for identifying Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) within Medicaid claims as a technique to better understand Medicaid enrollees' use of RHC services. Uses data from North Carolina, California, Georgia, and Texas.
Author(s): Marisa Domino, Seth Tyree, Regina Rutledge, Mark Holmes
Date: 05/2016
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Guiding Principles for Engaging in Research with Native American Communities
Offers guidance on how to conduct research in and with Native communities based on 11 principles focusing on cultural humility, relationship building, relevance, and more.
Date: 04/2016
Sponsoring organizations: Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center, Nadine Tafoya and Associates, New Mexico Tribal Strategic Prevention Framework Project, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, UNM Center for Rural and Community Behavioral Health, UNM Prevention Research Center
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