The Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) new report, “Agriculture and Local Food Economies in the Appalachian Region,” examines the impact and potential of Appalachia’s food systems.

Based largely on U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture data, the report is filled with recommendations and success strategies that can help communities cultivate thriving food economies.  The research also includes overviews and case studies that will prove useful to Appalachian stakeholders interested in developing their own local food systems.

Learn more about opportunities to strengthen Appalachian food economies by clicking here.

The Weitzman Institute is pleased to share its latest policy brief, “Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences in the Context of COVID-19.”

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years). They are a major public health concern that will worsen as a result of the health, social, and economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This policy brief examines how the health, social, and economic impact of COVID-19 may result in an increase in ACEs, especially in our most vulnerable populations, and discusses the public health responses needed to effectively address ACEs in our communities.

The brief builds upon Weitzman Institute staff Dr. April Joy Damian, Daniel Bryant, and May Oo’s recent article in Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, and forthcoming chapter in the book Handbook of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): A Framework for Collaborative Health Promotion.

Click HERE to read the policy brief.

The U.S. Census Bureau released estimates of the total population as of July 1, 2021 at the county level. Population estimates are calculated using administrative records to estimate components of population change such as births, deaths, and migration.

In 2021, fewer births, an aging population, and increased mortality – intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic – contributed to a rise in natural decrease. The statistics released today include population estimates and components of change metropolitan statistical areas, micropolitan statistical areas, and counties.

Thirty-six counties experienced population decline from 2020 to 2021. Click here to read more.

A report from by Dr. Diane Shinberg of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, provides a profile of the lives and livelihoods of rural Pennsylvania women.

The research noted that rural Pennsylvania’s population is aging more rapidly than the rest of the state, so the rural population, in general, includes relatively fewer younger adults (aged 25-34 years) compared to older adults (aged 35-64 years).

Educational attainment among rural women has increased from 2005-2009 to 2014-2018, however, high school graduation remained the most common level of completed schooling for rural women. About two-thirds of rural women participated in the labor force, and the most commonly held jobs among rural women were at risk of replacement due to automation or other economic restructuring. The research also revealed that more rural women work now than in the past, and their time “on the clock” increased. While personal wages and salaries of working rural women increased from the previous decade, they also earned the least among rural men and urban women and men.

Access the report here.

The U.S. Census Bureau released new statistics from the 2016–2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. Following pandemic-related data collection disruptions, the Census Bureau revised its methodology to reduce nonresponse bias in data collected in 2020. After evaluating the effectiveness of this methodology, the Census Bureau determined the standard, full suite of 2016–2020 ACS 5-year data are fit for public release, government and business uses.

Median Household Income 

• The newly released 2016–2020 ACS 5-year data shows that Pennsylvania’s median household income increased to $63,627 when compared to the 2011–2015 ACS 5-year data adjusted for inflation.
• Between the two nonoverlapping periods, median household income increased in 66 of the state’s 67 counties. The largest increase was in Chester County (+$10,205) and the largest decline in Bradford County (-$1,180).

Poverty

• From 2011–2015 to 2016–2020, the overall poverty rate for Pennsylvania decreased from 13.5% to 12.0%.
• From 2011–2015 to 2016–2020, the poverty rate decreased in 59 of the state’s 67 counties, with the largest decrease in Juniata County (-3.8%). The rate increased in 7 counties, with the largest increase in Cameron County (+5.2%). There was no change in Schuylkill County (remained at 13.1%).

The revised methodology improves the 2020 weighted survey responses by comparing characteristics for responding and nonresponding households using administrative, third-party and decennial census data. The resulting 2020 input data were then integrated with the inputs from 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 (processed using standard ACS methodology) to produce the 5-year data products. To learn more about changes to the methodology, view the methodology user note.

It is important to note, the ACS 5-year estimates are not designed to measure rapid change during short periods because the data come from a 5-year period. Although the most recent estimates contain data that include the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic, they also contain data collected in the final years (2016–2019) of the longest expansion in the history of U.S. business cycles. These data only reflect a small part of the impact of the pandemic on social, economic and housing measures.

Data users should use caution when comparing 2016–2020 5-year estimates to earlier ACS data. For more information, visit comparison guidance. To learn more about the ACS 5-year period estimates, read Period Estimates in the American Community Survey.

Changes to Race and Hispanic Origin 

The findings on race and ethnicity from the 2016–2020 ACS were similar to the 2020 Census results.

• The White population remained the largest race or ethnicity group in the state, however this population declined by 2.6% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020. The American Indian and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander populations also declined during this period.
• The multiracial (the Two or More Races) population increased by 58.8% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020.
• The Some Other Race population increased 23.6% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020 while the Asian population increased 14.4% and the Black or African American population increased 1.2% during this period.
• The Hispanic or Latino population, which includes people of any race, increased by 19.2% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020.

The 2016–2020 ACS 5-year estimates also reflect planned changes made to the design, processing and coding of the race and Hispanic origin questions.

Beginning in 2020, the Census Bureau implemented changes to the Hispanic origin and race questions based on extensive research and outreach over the past decade. The improvements made to the design, processing and coding of the Hispanic origin and race questions are similar to changes made in the 2020 Census.

The differences in the overall racial distributions relative to 2011–2015 ACS data are largely due to improvements in the design of the two separate questions for Hispanic origin and race data collection and processing as well as some demographic changes.

The Census Bureau is also set to release the ACS 5-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) and the Variance Replicate Estimates (VRE) on March 31, 2022.

A new report on cancer, An Update on Cancer Deaths in the United States, uses the latest cancer death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Health Statistics. In 2020, almost 603,000 people died of cancer in the United States, but cancer death rates have continued to drop. Cancer deaths have dropped 27% over 20 years from 2001 to 2020. In other findings:

• Cancer remained the second leading cause of death, after heart disease in 2020. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death.
• Lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer death, attributing to 23% of all cancer deaths.
• Cancer death rates differed by cancer type, sex, racial and ethnic group, and residence in an urban or rural county.

Learn More

The Flex Monitoring Team has released a new policy brief, Evaluating State Flex Program Population Health Activities.

The Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program funds initiatives to improve the health of rural communities under Program Area 3: Population Health Improvement. This brief: (a) provides an overview of the expectations for Program Area 3; (b) summarizes State Flex Program (SFP) initiatives under this Program Area; (c) describes promising population health strategies implemented by SFPs; and (d) discusses outcome measurement issues for population health. It also describes a pathway to connect Flex Program population health efforts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative (HRHI), a five-year multi-program effort to address the factors driving rural disparities in heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke.

A companion brief, An Inventory of State Flex Program Population Health Initiatives for Fiscal Years 2019-2023, provides a detailed description of population health initiatives proposed by the 45 SFPs.