- Fact Sheet: The Biden-Harris Administration Highlights Investments in Rural America, Invites Public Nominations for Rural Innovators Initiative
- Rural Victims of Intimate-Partner Violence Need More Resources and Support, Study Finds
- A Tribe in Maine Is Using Opioid Settlement Funds on a Sweat Lodge to Treat Addiction
- Fact Sheet: USDA, HHS Announce New Actions to Reduce Impact and Spread of H5N1
- Call for Experts: Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence
- Bill to Expand Definition of 'Village' Qualifying for Water Funds Passes Alaska House
- Child Care Workers Caught in Middle of Michigan's Broken Child Care System
- Few Options Available for Substance Abuse Treatment in the Big Bend
- In Rural Texas, ERs Are Facing a Growing Mental Health Crisis
- Ways and Means Members Put Forth Solutions to Strengthen Telehealth Access and Improve Health Care for Rural Communities
- Sage Memorial Hospital in Navajo Nation Constructs New Facility to Improve Health Care
- How the State, Tribes and Federal Government Are Working to Curb SD's Syphilis Epidemic
- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- RPHARM Program Fulfills Need for Rural Pharmacists
- A Pilot Program in Rural Vermont Hopes to Build a Blueprint for Substance Abuse Recovery
Appalachian Research Journal Publishes Coronavirus Research Results
The Journal of Appalachian Health has many research articles pertaining to the Coronavirus pandemic. Check them out HERE:
COVID-19 and Opioid Use in Appalachian Kentucky: Challenges and Silver Linings
Authors: Rachel Vickers-Smith, Hannah L.F. Cooper, April M. Young
Rural Appalachia Battling the Intersection of Two Crises: COVID-19 and Substance Use Disorders
Authors: Margaret Miller, Rebekah Rollston, Kate E. Beatty, Michael Meit
Impact of the COVID-19 Shutdown on Mental Health in Appalachia by Working Status
Authors: Erin N. Haynes, Timothy J. Hilbert, Susan C. Westneat, Kate Leger, Katie Keynton, et al.
A Description of COVID-19 Lifestyle Restrictions Among a Sample of Rural Appalachian Women
Authors: Michele Staton, Martha Tillson, J. Matthew Webster
Authors: Tauna Gulley, Teresa Tyson, Ethan Collins, Rachel Helton, Paula Hill-Collins, et al.
Advancing Cancer Prevention Practice Facilitation Work in Rural Primary Care During COVID-19
Authors: Dannell Boatman, Susan Eason, Mary E. Conn, Summer Miller, Stephenie Kennedy-Rea
Poll Finds Rural Residents More Hesitant to Get Vaccinated
Author: Tim Marema
Addressing Opioid Overdose Deaths in the Workplace
NIOSH recently published a video called Addressing Opioid Overdose Deaths in the Workplace. The video can help employers decide whether to have naloxone, an effective drug for reversing opioid overdoses, available in their workplace. The video also gives employers and workers information on how to implement and maintain a workplace naloxone program.
To learn more, see our factsheet.
NIOSH: April Is Workplace Violence Awareness Month
Workplace violence is any type of violence or threat of violence against workers. It generally occurs in the workplace but can also happen away from it. Workplace violence can range from threats and verbal abuse to more serious events that lead to physical assaults, homicides, and mass casualty events, such as those that occurred recently at workplaces in Atlanta, Georgia, and Boulder, Colorado. Because April is Workplace Violence Awareness month, we would like to share resources on what we know based on research and also where research gaps still exist.
Workplace violence can occur anywhere and at any time, but certain groups of workers are at increased risk. These groups include those who exchange money with the public; transport passengers, goods, or services; work alone or in small groups late at night or early in the morning; and come into close contact as they treat and provide patient care. Examples include retail workers, nurses, taxi drivers, and others who commonly interact with customers, clients, or patients. However, workplace violence doesn’t have to involve workers and customers or clients. Threats and assaults can also come from other employees, supervisors or managers, a domestic partner, or a current or former spouse.
Opioid and Substance Use Strategies for CAHs
The HRSA/FORHP-funded Flex Monitoring Team has released their archived webinar on opioid and substance use in rural communities. The webinar took place in February to accompany a policy brief published last year. The webinar discusses why Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) should address these issues, provides a framework to support them in this work, and provides examples of activities CAHs are participating in.
Updated Guidance on Emergency Preparedness Requirements
On March 26, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance interpreting the emergency preparedness requirements in the Burden Reduction Final Rule of 2019, which applies to all providers and suppliers. In response to the public health emergency, the guidance also provides best practices, lessons learned, and planning considerations for emerging infectious diseases.
Post-acute Care Trajectories for Rural Medicare Beneficiaries: Planned versus Actual Hospital Discharges to Skilled Nursing Facilities and Home Health Agencies
Post-acute care services are designed to help patients transition from hospitalization in acute care facilities to their homes. Skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies provide the majority of post-acute care services to Medicare beneficiaries. This study from the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center used Medicare administrative data for rural, fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries to describe post-acute care trajectories following acute hospitalization and examine differences between planned discharge disposition from the hospital and actual post-acute care received.
COMING SOON: Emergency Broadband Benefit Program
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) will make $3.2 billion available to qualifying households to lower the cost of high-speed internet service, providing discounts on internet service bills and an opportunity for a computer or tablet. The EBB program is similar to the Lifeline program with expanded eligibility, vendors, and subsidies. We encourage you to develop a plan now to support patients to apply promptly after the application period is announced by the end of April; funds are expected to go quickly. Read more here.
HHS Reports on Risk of COVID-19 Infections in Fee-For-Service Medicare
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services points to several factors raising the risk of infections, hospitalization, and deaths. These risks vary across the country, with some geographic areas having higher concentrations of at-risk beneficiaries. This issue brief provides information on risk scores at the national, state, and county level, and includes a database of risk scores by county.
CHART Model’s ACO Track RFA Delayed to Spring 2022
This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the release of the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Transformation Track Request for Applications (RFA) is delayed until spring 2022. The CHART Model aims to help rural communities transform their health care delivery systems. This delay applies only to the ACO Transformation Track. Applications for the CHART Community Transformation Track are due by May 11, 2021.
Volunteer to Administer COVID-19 Vaccines
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has expanded its definition of persons authorized to give the vaccine. These include, among others, current and retired traditional and non-traditional health care professionals, and students in health care programs. Read more here.