From The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
What is already known about this topic?
Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC), the second leading cause of cancer death among cancers affecting men and women, reduces incidence and mortality. The percentage of persons who report being up to date with CRC screening has increased, but not equally among all populations. Continue reading the full report
March 18, 2020
For the “Opioid Management in Older Adults” project, AHRQ is seeking to identify innovative approaches to managing opioid medications for chronic pain that are particularly relevant for older adults. Use of long-term opioid therapy in older adults can be especially problematic because of increased risks such as delirium, falls, and dementia.
Learn how to submit here.
This article summarizes a study that found lung cancer patients were less likely to receive chemotherapy if they lived in rural areas or were on Medicaid or uninsured. Researchers describe that rural residents are more likely to have to travel long distances for follow-up treatment. Read more here.
Daily Yonder, March 24, 2020
By Shannon Monnat Transmission rates may be lower in rural areas, the percentage of cases resulting in death and other serious complications could be higher in rural than in urban areas.
As rates of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection and death continue to rise, it is important to consider how rural areas may be differentially affected. On the one hand, rural parts of the U.S. may be comparatively better off than urban places due to lower population density in rural areas. Lower population density reduces opportunities for virus spread. On the other hand, there are several features of rural populations and places that increase their risk of coronavirus-related mortality and other long-term health impacts.
These include the realities that rural populations are older and have higher rates of several chronic health conditions, and rural areas have a less robust health care infrastructure to deal with coronavirus cases. Rural economies may also be affected in different ways than their urban counterparts, which has implications for long-term rural population health outcomes.
Fred Ullrich, BA; and Keith J. Mueller, PhD
While the majority of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States are found in urban centers, rural areas are not free of cases. As of March 26, 2020, there were a total of 64,382 cases (data provided by USAFacts.org), with 2,180 of those cases (about 3.4 percent of the total number) reported in non-metropolitan counties. This RUPRI data brief shows the current nonmetropolitan and metropolitan spread of the disease, and the associated map shows how the disease has spread over time.
Click to download the brief: Confirmed COVID-19, Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties
Map: http://ruprihealth.org/publications/other/COVID_map.gif
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RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
University of Iowa
College of Public Health
Department of Health Management and Policy
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Iowa City, IA 52242
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Fax: (319) 384-4371
Web site: www.public-health.uiowa.edu/rupri
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The U.S. Census Bureau released estimates of the total population as of July 1, 2019 at the county level. The data show that the fastest growing counties since 2010 are Cumberland (+7.6%), Lebanon (+6.1%), Lehigh (+5.6%), Centre (+5.4%), and Chester (+5.2%). Counties with the greatest percentage decreases were Cameron (-12.5%), Cambria (-9.4%), Venango (-7.9%), Susquehanna (-6.9%), and McKean (-6.5%).
By sheer numbers Philadelphia continued to add the most population this decade (+58,052). Philadelphia was followed by Montgomery (+31,075), Lancaster (+26,281), Chester (+25,856), and Lehigh (+19,643). Westmoreland County lost the most population so far this decade (-16,172). Westmoreland was followed by Cambria (-13,503), Erie (-10,856), Fayette (-7,327), and Allegheny (-7,258).
Want to take a closer look? Find the data at: https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-counties-total.html
The national Flex Monitoring Team has released a new briefing paper on data sources to help rural EMS agencies and State Flex Programs monitor and improve rural EMS performance. Through our work with an expert panel and a review of EMS data collection efforts, we identified barriers to as well as opportunities for EMS agencies, State EMS offices, and State Flex Programs to improve the collection, reporting and use of EMS data.
This paper may be accessed via the link below or on the Flex Monitoring Team website.
Over the years, there have been many studies on the effectiveness of the community health worker (CHW) in improving health outcomes. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the National Association of Community Health Workers recently published a summary of the research from the past 50 years. It focused on assessing effectiveness in improving health outcomes, reducing healthcare costs and bridging the gap in health disparities.
The national Flex Monitoring Team (FMT) has released reports of Critical Access Hospital (CAH) performance and reporting rates on selected Hospital Compare measures, using data from 2018.
The Hospital Compare data in this report include several measures that are also measures for the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP). Although the majority of CAHs report data on these measures to both Hospital Compare and MBQIP, the data in this report may differ from MBQIP reports because some CAHs only report data to one of these programs.
The national report may accessed here and state reports may be accessed via the links below. All FMT publications can also be found on the Flex website.
February 25, 2020
One in five Americans lives in a rural area, including about 18 million women of reproductive age, but key indicators, including mortality figures, show that the health of mothers and children in these communities lags behind that of their urban peers and is worsening. Nationwide, child mortality rates have declined over the past decade, but recent research shows that improvement among infants and young children has been much slower in rural areas. To reverse these disparities and improve overall outcomes, government agencies at all levels, as well as health providers, policymakers, and communities, must combine their expertise and resources to identify effective solutions that address the complex drivers of health and well-being among mothers and their children.
