Social Determinants of Health for Rural People – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Social Determinants of Health for Rural People.
Health is Primary: Charting a Path to Equity and Sustainability
Examines factors driving the downward trends in primary care, including fewer clinicians practicing primary care, fewer available appointments, lower spending on primary care, and fewer adults reporting that they have a usual source of primary care. Features a literature review, supply and demand analysis, and recommendations for potential solutions. Mentions rural throughout.
Additional links: Slide Presentation
Author(s): Alison Huffstetler, Ann Greiner, Anam Siddiqi, et al.
Date: 11/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Primary Care Collaborative, Robert Graham Center
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Examines factors driving the downward trends in primary care, including fewer clinicians practicing primary care, fewer available appointments, lower spending on primary care, and fewer adults reporting that they have a usual source of primary care. Features a literature review, supply and demand analysis, and recommendations for potential solutions. Mentions rural throughout.
Additional links: Slide Presentation
Author(s): Alison Huffstetler, Ann Greiner, Anam Siddiqi, et al.
Date: 11/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Primary Care Collaborative, Robert Graham Center
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Key Informant Perspectives on Rural Housing and Health
Summarizes findings from interviews with key informants from 27 national organizations and federal agencies regarding rural-specific barriers to housing and identifies three themes: availability, age and quality of housing stock, and affordability. Describes impacts of rural housing challenges on health. Discusses policy recommendations for addressing housing-related issues to improve rural health.
Author(s): Megan Lahr, Katie Rydberg, Madeleine Pick, Mariana Tuttle, Carrie Henning-Smith
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Summarizes findings from interviews with key informants from 27 national organizations and federal agencies regarding rural-specific barriers to housing and identifies three themes: availability, age and quality of housing stock, and affordability. Describes impacts of rural housing challenges on health. Discusses policy recommendations for addressing housing-related issues to improve rural health.
Author(s): Megan Lahr, Katie Rydberg, Madeleine Pick, Mariana Tuttle, Carrie Henning-Smith
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Rural-Urban Disparities in Health Outcomes, Clinical Care, Health Behaviors, and Social Determinants of Health and an Action-Oriented, Dynamic Tool for Visualizing Them
Examines county-level disparities in rural and urban health outcomes and presents a health equity dashboard depicting the disparities. Utilizes 2015 and 2019 County Health Rankings datasets to analyze measures such as health outcomes, clinical care, health behaviors, physical environment, and social and economic factors according to urban, suburban, and rural location.
Author(s): William B. Weeks, Ji E. Chang, José A. Pagán, et al.
Citation: PLOS Global Public Health, 3(10)
Date: 10/2023
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Examines county-level disparities in rural and urban health outcomes and presents a health equity dashboard depicting the disparities. Utilizes 2015 and 2019 County Health Rankings datasets to analyze measures such as health outcomes, clinical care, health behaviors, physical environment, and social and economic factors according to urban, suburban, and rural location.
Author(s): William B. Weeks, Ji E. Chang, José A. Pagán, et al.
Citation: PLOS Global Public Health, 3(10)
Date: 10/2023
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Rural Housing, featuring David Lipsetz
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring David Lipsetz, President and CEO of the Housing Assistance Council. Focuses on housing in rural communities, and the funding programs and organizations that support safe and affordable rural housing.
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring David Lipsetz, President and CEO of the Housing Assistance Council. Focuses on housing in rural communities, and the funding programs and organizations that support safe and affordable rural housing.
Date: 10/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2021-2022: A Demographic and Employment Profile of United States Crop Workers
Reports on demographic and employment characteristics of hired agricultural workers in the United States. Includes data on health insurance and healthcare access, as well as information on social determinants of health such as income, education level, language skills, housing, and digital device access. Based on data collected from face-to-face interviews with 2,598 crop farmworkers conducted between September 29, 2020 and October 1, 2022.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Labor
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Reports on demographic and employment characteristics of hired agricultural workers in the United States. Includes data on health insurance and healthcare access, as well as information on social determinants of health such as income, education level, language skills, housing, and digital device access. Based on data collected from face-to-face interviews with 2,598 crop farmworkers conducted between September 29, 2020 and October 1, 2022.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Labor
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Assessing Access to Digital Services in Health Care–Underserved Communities in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study
Grouped 3108 counties in the contiguous U.S. based on their access to broadband, access to healthcare, and social vulnerability. Discusses trends in rural counties and regions of the country within these groups and makes recommendations to decrease the digital divide.
Author(s): Diego F. Cuadros, Claudia M. Moreno, F. DeWolfe Miller, Ryosuke Omori, Neil J. MacKinnon
Citation: Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, 1(3), 217-225
Date: 09/2023
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Grouped 3108 counties in the contiguous U.S. based on their access to broadband, access to healthcare, and social vulnerability. Discusses trends in rural counties and regions of the country within these groups and makes recommendations to decrease the digital divide.
Author(s): Diego F. Cuadros, Claudia M. Moreno, F. DeWolfe Miller, Ryosuke Omori, Neil J. MacKinnon
Citation: Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, 1(3), 217-225
Date: 09/2023
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Race, Poverty, and Foster Care Placement in the United States: Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Perspectives
Examines how changes in poverty rate are related to foster care placements for Black and White children. Utilizes longitudinal data from 2000 to 2015 to analyze related socio-ecological factors and includes statistics on poverty, foster care admissions rates, and child population, further broken down according to urbanicity.
Author(s): Fred Wulczyn, Xiaomeng Zhou, Jamie McClanahan, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(16), 6572
Date: 08/2023
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Examines how changes in poverty rate are related to foster care placements for Black and White children. Utilizes longitudinal data from 2000 to 2015 to analyze related socio-ecological factors and includes statistics on poverty, foster care admissions rates, and child population, further broken down according to urbanicity.
Author(s): Fred Wulczyn, Xiaomeng Zhou, Jamie McClanahan, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(16), 6572
Date: 08/2023
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Socioeconomic and Environmental Determinants of Asthma Prevalence: A Cross-sectional Study at the U.S. County Level Using Geographically Weighted Random Forests
Examines ecological associations of asthma by social and physical determinants at the county level. Includes U.S. maps that depict asthma prevalence as well as determinants such as smoking prevalence, depression prevalence, poverty, insurance rates, and more, which are further analyzed to depict their correlation with asthma.
Author(s): Aynaz Lotfata, Mohammad Moosazadeh, Marco Helbich, Benyamin Hoseini
Citation: International Journal of Health Geographics, 22, 18
Date: 08/2023
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Examines ecological associations of asthma by social and physical determinants at the county level. Includes U.S. maps that depict asthma prevalence as well as determinants such as smoking prevalence, depression prevalence, poverty, insurance rates, and more, which are further analyzed to depict their correlation with asthma.
Author(s): Aynaz Lotfata, Mohammad Moosazadeh, Marco Helbich, Benyamin Hoseini
Citation: International Journal of Health Geographics, 22, 18
Date: 08/2023
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Sociodemographic and Geographic Risk Factors for All-Cause Mortality in Patients with COPD
Analyzes factors related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality while considering both individual characteristics and community risk factors. Examines 2021 COPD patient data according to sex, race/ethnicity, comorbidities, area deprivation index, and location by highly rural, rural, and urban.
Author(s): C Robichaux, J Aron, CH Wendt, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 18, 1587-1593
Date: 07/2023
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Analyzes factors related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality while considering both individual characteristics and community risk factors. Examines 2021 COPD patient data according to sex, race/ethnicity, comorbidities, area deprivation index, and location by highly rural, rural, and urban.
Author(s): C Robichaux, J Aron, CH Wendt, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, 18, 1587-1593
Date: 07/2023
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Developing a National-Scale Exposure Index for Combined Environmental Hazards and Social Stressors and Applications to the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort
Discusses the process of building an index to assess environmental hazards and social stressors on pregnancy. Utilizes factors such as pollution, lack of green space, social economic status, social vulnerability, race/ethnicity, metro versus non-metro location, and more to define exposure risk.
Author(s): Sheena E. Martenies, Mingyu Zhang, Anne E. Corrigan, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(14), 6339
Date: 07/2023
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Discusses the process of building an index to assess environmental hazards and social stressors on pregnancy. Utilizes factors such as pollution, lack of green space, social economic status, social vulnerability, race/ethnicity, metro versus non-metro location, and more to define exposure risk.
Author(s): Sheena E. Martenies, Mingyu Zhang, Anne E. Corrigan, et al.
Citation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(14), 6339
Date: 07/2023
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Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:
- Educational attainment
- Employment and unemployment
- Environmental health
- Health literacy
- Housing and homelessness
- Income
- Infrastructure
- Poverty
- Social determinants of health
Last Updated: 8/15/2025