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

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Conducting Rural Health Research, Needs Assessments, and Program Evaluations.

A Standard Framework for Evaluating Large Health Care Data and Related Resources
Identifies a set of actions, criteria, and tools that can be used in evaluating large healthcare data and related resources. Includes information on evaluating data coverage, representativeness, inclusion, and equity, including the availability of information on rural or urban location.
Author(s): Suad El Burai Felix, Hussain Yusuf, Matthew Ritchey, et al.
Citation: MMWR Supplements, 73(Suppl. 3), 1-13
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Resource of Health Equity-Related Data Definitions, Standards, & Stratification Practices
Resource for providers, states, community organizations, and others that want to improve their health equity-related data collection and analysis. Outlines suggested definitions, standards, and stratification practices for race and ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), disability status, rurality, and other sociodemographic data elements.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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The Area Deprivation Index in Rural Health Research, with Casey Balio
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Casey Balio, PhD, Research Assistant Professor at East Tennessee State University's Center for Rural Health Research and part of the ETSU/NORC Rural Health Equity Research Center. Focuses on the uses and methodology of the Area Deprivation Index.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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RE-AIM For Rural Health Innovations: Perceptions of (Mis) Alignment Between the RE-AIM Framework and Evaluation Reporting in the Department of Veterans Affairs Enterprise-Wide Initiatives Program
Interviewed 48 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Rural Health's (ORH) Enterprise-Wide Initiatives (EWI) team members on perceptions of, as well as barriers and facilitators to, implementation of the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) method of evaluation. Discusses the benefits and challenges of implementing a shared framework across diverse initiatives.
Author(s): Emily E. Chasco, Jennifer Van Tiem, Nicole Johnson, et al.
Citation: Frontiers in Health Services, 4, 1278209
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
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Evaluation of Respondent-Driven Sampling in Seven Studies of People Who Use Drugs from Rural Populations: Findings from the Rural Opioid Initiative
Examines the efficacy of respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to recruit people who use drugs (PWUD) in rural populations. Analyzes 7 Rural Opioid Initiative studies that occurred between 2018-2020 and performs statistical analyses to observe RDS-generated validity in population-level prevalence estimates.
Author(s): Abby E. Rudolph, Robin M. Nance, Georgiy Bobashev, et al.
Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology, 24, 94
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
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A Strategy To Support Perinatal Mental Health By Collaborating With Tribal Communities In Montana
Describes a community-based participatory approach with Montana tribal communities to create an online guide of mental health resources for prenatal to age three populations. Discusses the outcomes of collaboration, the Two-Eyed Seeing approach for health promotion, and opportunities for including cultural knowledge and values in future health promotion work.
Author(s): Amy Stiffarm, Stephanie Morton, Dawn Gunderson, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 43(4)
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
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Reaching the Unheard: Overcoming Challenges in Health Research with Hard-to-Reach Populations
Analyzes strategies to engage hard-to-reach populations in health research. Discusses two case studies focused on specific issues in health research: breast cancer screening among rural and urban Mexican women in Illinois and mental health needs of Afghan refugees in Oklahoma. Provides reflection on issues such as cultural competency, language used in research, cultural identity and representation of research staff, choosing appropriate research sites, and more.
Author(s): Venera Bekteshi, Munjireen Sifat, Darla E. Kendzor
Citation: International Journal for Equity in Health, 23, 61
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
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Addressing Disparities In Research Informing Personalized Medicine: Recommendations from Underserved Communities: A Research Report
Offers 8 recommendations from representatives of underrepresented biomedical research (UBR) communities for engaging UBR communities in research. Recommendations cover empowering community engagement and the collection and use of health data. Discusses funding for rural health facilities.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Personalized Medicine Coalition
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Human Biomonitoring Without In-Person Interaction: Public Health Engagements During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Future Implications
Examines engagement approaches of biomonitoring and discusses the feasibility of utilizing non-contact methods for public health research. Analyzes distance-based approaches for research such as recruitment mailers, phone conversations, internet surveys, and self-collected and shipped samples. Includes reflections on non-contact methods to engage rural populations in research during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the future.
Author(s): Alyssa J. Mattson, Jiali Yu, Elizabeth M. Miller, et al.
Citation: BMC Medical Research Methodology, 24, 53
Date: 02/2024
Type: Document
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Evaluating Telehealth Services
Webinar recording offering an overview of the evaluating telehealth services process in the domains of access, logistics, experience, effectiveness, and equity using the Rural Telehealth and Healthcare System Readiness Measurement Framework from the National Quality Forum. Includes resources for facilities wanting to implement telehealth services in Oklahoma and nationally. Transcript included in video description.
Date: 02/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organizations: Heartland Telehealth Resource Center, Oklahoma State University Center for Rural Health
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Last Updated: 7/16/2024