The Rural Health Value team has released a new resource outlining eight commonly used change management methodologies that are rural-relevant. It is intended as a guide to help rural health care leaders identify which approach(es) might be most useful to them and their organizations.

Management Methodologies and Value-Based Strategies: An Overview for Rural Health Care Leaders – Offers rural health leaders an overview of eight commonly used management methodologies to help guide change, plus additional resources and references for further exploration. (June 2019)

Top resources on the Rural Health Value website:

• Value-Based Care Assessment – Assess capacity and capabilities to deliver value-based care. Receive an eight category readiness report.
• Physician Engagement – Score current engagement and build effective relationships to create a shared vision for a successful future.
• Board and Community Engagement – Hold value-based care discussions as part of strategic planning and performance measurement.
• Social Determinants of Health – Learn and encourage rural leaders/care teams to address issues to improve their community’s health.

Contact information:

Keith J. Mueller, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator

keith-mueller@uiowa.edu

Unmet Need for Personal Care Assistance Among Rural and Urban Older Adults.  Despite differences in health, health services, economic, and demographic characteristics, little is known about whether rural and urban areas differ in unmet need for personal care for older adults with functional limitations. This brief from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center addresses that gap by analyzing rural-urban differences in unmet need for help across 11 activities

(June 12, 2019)  The Commonwealth Fund’s 2019 Scorecard on State Health System Performance reveals that most states are losing ground on key measures related to life expectancy as premature deaths from suicide, alcohol, and drug overdose continue to increase. Several states that most recently expanded eligibility for their Medicaid programs saw meaningful gains in access to health care; in other states prior gains eroded between 2016 and 2017. Finally, the Scorecard found that health care costs are placing an increasing financial burden on families across the nation.

In addition, you can download the full report, and a two-page summary for each state.

This research brief from the Pennsylvania State Data Center, Child Diversity in Pennsylvania, examines trends in the changing racial and ethnic makeup of Pennsylvania’s child population. The brief accompanies an interactive visualization which shows trends in race and ethnicity by school district and age group for those under 20 years.

     The report shows that nearly a third of all children in Pennsylvania are children of color as of 2017, up from a quarter in 2009. Meanwhile, just one in five adults are persons of color. Four out of five school districts had higher shares of children of color in 2017 than 2009. Click here to read more in the full report, or click here to go straight to the visualization.

     The report and visualization were developed in collaboration with our affiliate, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children. Learn more about their important work at https://www.papartnerships.org/.

The Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released a study on the economic impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.  According to their research, consumers’ use of SNAP benefits had a greater impact in rural areas during national economic downturn, creating additional jobs in those counties.  The ERS conducts research and analysis on a broad range of economic and policy topics related to agriculture and rural areas.  The report can be accessed here:  https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=93168.

A new report has been released, Broadband Availability and Access in Rural Pennsylvania.  The project, funded by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania and conducted by researchers at Penn State, details broadband access across Pennsylvania and makes policy recommendations for the General Assembly to address broadband access disparities.

According to the report, over 800,000 Pennsylvania residents do not have access to broadband connectivity, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  However, recent research has documented that these official estimates are downplaying the true state of the digital divide because they rely on self-reported data by Internet Service Providers (ISPs).  Informed policy requires systematic analysis to both verify the FCC’s numbers and accurately determine the true state of broadband connectivity across Pennsylvania.  The research collected more than 11 million broadband speed tests from across Pennsylvania in 2018.  These tests measured broadband speeds in every Pennsylvania county and found that median speeds across most areas of the state do not meet the FCC’s criteria to qualify as broadband.  The main findings from these analyses have profound implications for existing and future efforts to bridge the digital divide.

The full report can be accessed on the Center for Rural Pennsylvania’s website at https://www.rural.palegislature.us/

New Pre-K for PA Report Released This Week

This week the Pre-K for PA Campaign released a report, Ready to Succeed: Kindergarten Teachers Support Investments in High-Quality Pre-k, based on findings of a survey conducted with campaign partner PSEA. The results show resounding support for high-quality pre-k among those surveyed.

PPC President and CEO Kari King joined fellow campaign members at an event at Hamilton Elementary School in the Carlisle Area School District in Cumberland County to release the report, noting, “Investments in high-quality pre-k have a significant return on investment for our children, schools and communities. However, the state is not investing enough to ensure access for the children who need it the most.”

More than 97,000 – or 56 percent – of eligible 3- and 4-year-olds do not have access. The Pre-K for PA Campaign is calling for a $50 million increase in the 2019-20 state budget; $40 million for Pre-K Counts and $10 million for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program (HSSAP). This investment will provide access to an additional 5,500 children.

The Rural Minority and Minority Health Research Center at the University of South Carolina has published two policy briefs.

The first brief, Identification of High-Need Rural Counties to Assist in Resource Location Planning, categorizes high-need, low-resource locations by identifying counties that lacked safety-net providers.

The second brief, Identification of High-Need Rural Counties to Assist in Resource Location Planning for Primary Care, examines areas with poor health outcomes and limited access to primary care safety net settings.