- Miles for Milk: How Student-Run Grocery Store Reshaped Rural Community's Food Access
- Native Americans Have Shorter Life Spans, and It's Not Just Due to Lack of Health Care
- Promotoras Play Essential Role in Connecting Farmworkers with Health Care in Rural NorCal
- Using Medicaid to Address Young People's Mental Health Needs in School Settings
- Across the Country, Amish Populations Are on the Rise
- Sunsets, Wildlife and Limited Care: Challenges of Aging in Place in Rural America
- City-Country Mortality Gap Widens amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access
- Tribal Environmental Impact Network
- Minnesota's Rural Ambulance Providers Look to State Capitol for Their Own Lifeline
- Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Support the Primary Care Workforce
- Over 3,000 Homes on the Navajo Nation Receive Accurate Addresses for the First Time
- Rural Population Grows for Second Consecutive Year
- Rapides Library Offers Telehealth to a Town Without Doctors
- Rural Infection Preventionists Need Community Support
- New Federal Health IT Strategy Sets Sights on a Heathier, More Innovative, and More Equitable Health Care Experience
HRSA’s National Survey of Children’s Health Highlighted
The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) recently highlighted the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) with a post on its ASTHOExperts blog by Dr. Reem Ghandour, Director of the Division of Epidemiology in MCHB’s Office of Epidemiology and Research, and the NSCH Director. The post highlights how NSCH data can inform critical policy and program planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation processes conducted by state and territorial health officials.
The annual survey includes questions on a wide range of factors that influence children’s health—from the prevalence and impact of special health care needs, to health care quality and access, to adverse childhood experiences. It is the only source of both national- and state-level data on several key measures of infant, child, and adolescent health and development. The next set of NSCH data will be available in October.
Learn more about the National Survey of Children’s Health.
HRSA Releases Study on Rural and Urban Older Populations
A new study found that rural populations are older, on average, than urban populations. Across the U.S., people 85 and older make up 1.9 percent of the population. In rural counties, they make up 2.4 percent of the population.
Researchers studied rural-urban older adults based on four different domains: demographics, socioeconomic characteristics, health care access and use, and health characteristics.
The study revealed that the proportion of older adults is increasing more quickly in rural communities due to declining birth rates and migration patterns among younger adults.
Given that the likelihood of living alone increases with age (PDF – 1 MB), research in this area is vital to ensure people have appropriate support and resources.
The study was released by the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, which is funded by HRSA.
Living at Home in Rural America: Improving Accessibility for Older Adults and People with a Disability
HHS, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Agriculture have released a joint bulletin (PDF – 283 KB) describing federal resources available to improve health and housing outcomes for older adults and those with disabilities in rural America.
The bulletin supports the HHS Rural Health Task Force, an HHS-wide effort to improve health care and access for rural America. Read the full announcement.
HRSA was part of the HHS team that worked on the bulletin with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Administration for Community Living, and the CDC.
HHS Awards $117 Million to Support Health Center Quality Improvement
On August 25, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced over $117 million in quality improvement awards to 1,318 health centers across all U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia. HRSA-funded health centers will use these funds to further strengthen quality improvement activities and expand quality primary health care service delivery.
“These quality improvement awards support health centers across the country in delivering care to nearly 30 million people, providing a convenient source of quality care that has grown even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “These awards help ensure that all patients who visit a HRSA-funded health center continue to receive the highest quality of care, including access to COVID-19 testing and treatment.”
Read more here.
Trump Administration Announces Provider Relief Fund Application for Assisted Living Facilities
On September 1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is announcing assisted living facilities (ALFs) may now apply for funding under the Provider Relief Fund Phase 2 General Distribution allocation. This announcement bolsters the Trump administration’s commitment to support health care providers in addressing both the economic harm and additional expenses caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).This funding was made possible through the bipartisan CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.
“HHS is committed to ensuring America’s healthcare providers have what they need to protect their patients and continue providing care through the pandemic,“ said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “By expanding the Provider Relief Fund to assisted living facilities, we are supporting more frontline providers and helping to protect the nearly 1 million vulnerable older Americans in their care.”
Read more here.
HHS Releases Rural Action Plan
On Monday, August 3, President Trump signed an executive order requesting that the Department of Health and Human Services produce a report on existing and upcoming efforts to improve rural healthcare. Today, HHS released the Rural Action Plan, the first HHS-wide assessment of rural healthcare efforts in more than 18 years and the product of HHS’s Rural Task Force, a group of experts and leaders across the department first put together by Secretary Azar in 2019.
This action plan provides a roadmap for HHS to strengthen departmental coordination to better serve the millions of Americans who live in rural communities across the United States. Eighteen HHS agencies and offices took part in developing the plan, which includes 71 new or expanded activities for FY 2020 and beyond. Efforts that will be undertaken in FY 2020 include nine new rural-focused administrative or regulatory actions, three new rural-focused technical assistance efforts, 14 new rural research efforts, and five new rural program efforts. These efforts build on 94 new rural-focused projects the HHS Rural Task Force identified as having launched over the past three years.
Read more here.
Why Broadband Matters: One Pagers from Broadband Connects America
Broadband Connects America, a coalition working for increased broadband across rural America, has put together a series of one pagers outlining why broadband is essential for other issue priorities. Read more here.
Homeless People in Rural America Struggle to Find Help
By Jamie Fields and Katie Surma / Howard Center For Investigative Journalism
Homeless populations in rural America, often hidden from the public eye, suffer from lack of appropriate care and access to health resources during the Covid-19 epidemic. Read more here.
Research Report: States with Broadband Funding Program Have Better Access
By Roberto Gallardo and Brian Whitacre
State broadband policies make a difference, a new report says. In particular, residents of states that have their own broadband funding programs did better. And in states that restrict municipal broadband, residents fared worse. Read more here.
Rural Journalists Deal with Mental-Health Toll Brought by Covid-19
By Liz Carey
With the epidemic still burning through the country and public trust in the media at an all time low, rural journalists struggle with added pressures and mental stress of the new and dangerous reality they help cover in the news. Read more here.