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Rural Health

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Archive - State of the Art Conference: Rural Health March 28-29, 2022

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 15 percent of Americans live in a rural area, and those individuals are at increased risk for certain health conditions. Some rural areas have characteristics that put residents at higher risk of death—such as long travel distances to specialty and emergency care, or exposures to specific environmental hazards. In addition, rural-dwelling Americans tend to have higher rates of cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, and obesity. Rural residents also have higher rates of poverty, less access to healthcare, and are less likely to have health insurance.  All of these factors can lead to poor health outcomes. For Veterans dwelling in rural areas, those existing health concerns are compounded by experiences unique to military service. HSR&D research into rural health comprises everything from lack of access to care, to telehealth services, to social work outreach and suicide prevention.

Each section below is populated by a dynamic search of the HSR&D website and its underlying databases. Search results are generated based on the search term "Rural". Results are updated regularly, as new data are available.

VIEW: Citations | Publication Briefs | Studies | HSR&D Briefs, Reports, Newsletters | Topic Spotlight | Cyberseminars | Videos | Podcasts | Other Resources



Citations

(5 of more than 708 RURAL focused publications)



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Publication Briefs

(5 of more than 48 RURAL focused publication briefs)


  • Despite Equal Access and Use of VA Care, Black Veterans are More Likely to Experience Postpartum Rehospitalization and Low-Birthweight Infants
    This study sought to determine whether Black/white racial disparities in access, use, and outcomes are present among pregnant and postpartum Veterans and their infants using VA maternity care. Findings showed no statistically significant racial disparities in access or use of care during the perinatal period; nevertheless, Black Veterans were more likely than white Veterans to experience postpartu...
    Date: July 1, 2023
  • Thirty-Day Mortality Higher for Older Veterans Hospitalized with COVID-19 in Community vs. VA Hospitals
    This study compared outcomes among Veterans ages 65+ admitted for COVID-19 in VA and community hospitals. Findings showed that admission to community hospitals was associated with higher unadjusted (27% vs. 18%) and risk adjusted 30-day mortality compared to admission to VA hospitals. Readmission within 30 days was less common following admission to community compared to VA hospitals (13% vs. 14%)...
    Date: May 30, 2023
  • Rural-Urban Telemedicine Disparity among Veterans Worsens Following Onset of COVID-19 Pandemic
    This study examined changes over time in rural-urban differences in telemedicine use for primary care and mental health integration services among nearly 64 million primary care and 4 million mental health integration visits. Findings showed that the pandemic exacerbated the rural-urban telemedicine divide across VA, possibly because underlying causes of digital inequity were not addressed as init...
    Date: March 7, 2023
  • Timeliness of VA Purchased Community Primary Care Did Not Improve Following Early Expansion Under MISSION Act
    This study examined whether early Community Care Network (CCN) implementation impacted community primary care (PC) appointment wait times. Findings showed that expanded contracting with community providers and new provider network adequacy standards implemented through CCNs did not, in early stages, improve the timeliness of community primary care for Veterans. Wait times increased sharply for bot...
    Date: October 28, 2022
  • New Metric Determines Adequacy of VA Primary Care Staffing
    This study created a primary care provider (PCP) staffing measure using clinic-level provider FTE and number of assigned patients to identify primary care (PC) clinics at risk of insufficient staffing and describe rural-urban staffing variation. Using this metric, over the 3.5-year study period at 916 clinics, 38 (4%) were always under-staffed, 21 (2%) were always marginally staffed, and 200 (22%)...
    Date: August 4, 2022

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Studies

( 5 of more than 33 RURAL focused projects )

Project No.  Title  PI  Funding Start   
SDR 21-001 Addressing Social Determinants of Health Among Rural Veterans Gurewich, Deborah 2022-09-01
CDA 20-261 Understanding Community-based Mental Healthcare for Rural Veterans with Military Sexual Trauma Boykin, Derrecka 2022-04-01
C19 20-398 COVID-19 Impact on Biopsychosocial Factors of Loneliness in Rural Older Veterans and Caregivers Padala, Prasad 2020-08-01
CDA 18-192 Veteran Engagement Implementation Strategies to Prevent Rural Veteran Suicide Woodward, Eva 2020-07-01
IIR 16-070 Connecting Women to Care: Home-based Psychotherapy for Women with MST Living in Rural Areas Cloitre, Marylene 2018-04-01

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HSR&D Briefs, Reports, Newsletters

5 sample "Rural" publications displayed.


  • Overview: VA Telehealth || In Progress

    ...particularly important for Veterans living in rural states. On December 6, 2018, VA hosted...particularly important for Veterans living in rural states. On December 6, 2018, VA hosted...with 45% of these Veterans living in rural areas.1 HSR&D is conducting numerous

  • Management Briefs eBrief-no112 -- Rural Healthcare Workforce

    Management Briefs eBrief-no112 -- Rural Healthcare Workforce...Synthesis Program. Systematic Review: Rural Healthcare Workforce Approximately...population lives in rural areas, and Veterans living in rural areas represent one-third

  • Management Briefs eBrief-no38 -- Rural vs. Urban Ambulatory Healthcare

    Management Briefs eBrief-no38 -- Rural vs. Urban Ambulatory Healthcare...June 2011 A Review of the Literature: Rural vs. Urban Ambulatory Healthcare There...system who live in rural areas (as defined by VA). The Rural Veterans Care Act

  • Rural Healthcare Workforce: A Systematic Review

    ...Rural Healthcare Workforce: A Systematic Review...Rural Healthcare Workforce: A Systematic Review Department of Veterans Affairs...Service Evidence-based Synthesis Program Rural Healthcare Workforce: A Systematic

  • FORUM, Summer 2017: Rural Health

    Collaborations Reveal Opportunities to Improve Rural Health Care B. Josea Kramer, PhD, Beth...patient-level impact was unknown in rural areas where access is limited for all

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Topic Spotlight


There are currently no spotlight features on this topic.

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Cyberseminars

The most recent "Rural" seminars are displayed.

Date Title Presenter(s)
9/13/2023 Harnessing Technology to Increase Access to Couple and Family Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders among Veterans Flanagan, Julianne  
Santa Ana, Elizabeth  
5/15/2023 Reproductive Health Needs and Organization of Care for Women and Gender-Diverse Veterans: Trends Over Time Katon, Jodie  
Haeger, Kristin  
Johnson, Amanda  
5/8/2023 VA’s Video Telehealth Tablets, Access to Mental Health Care, Suicide Risk Assessment, and Suicidal Behavior among Rural and Urban Veterans Gujral, Kritee  
5/2/2023 Tele-Collaborative Outreach to Rural Patients with Chronic Pain: The CORPs Trial Lovejoy, Travis  
2/10/2023 HSR&D National Meeting Paper Session: COVID-19 Research Community, HSR&D  

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Videos


There are currently no videos for this topic.

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Podcasts


There are currently no podcasts for this topic.

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Other Resources

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