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Rural Health Research Center Publications
Introduction
This guide provides a collection of tools, funding sources, documents, journals, and organizations that support or perform research related to rural health and human services.
Health-related areas include but are not limited to: FLEX programs, Rural Health Research Centers, policy analysis, and services to rural and frontier communities.
Human services topics include: poverty, housing, employment, education, substance abuse, welfare programs, and transportation needs.
Tools
2009 HHS Poverty Guidelines
Web site
Provides current and past poverty guidelines, poverty thresholds, and other related information.
AARP Policy & Research: Topics in Long-Term Care
Database
Provides long-term care information, research results and policy insights about access to health care, finances, benefits, services, Medicare, insurance, and more.
Am I Rural?
Web site
Helps determine whether a specific location is considered rural based on various definitions of rural, including definitions that are used as eligibility criteria for federal programs. Definitions covered include Rural Urban Commuting Areas (RUCAs), Core Based Statistical Areas, Rural Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Urban Influence Codes (UICs).
Developing and Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: A Skill-Building Curriculum
Web site
Assists community-institutional partnerships in using or planning a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to improving health. It can be used by partnerships that are just forming as well as mature partnerships.
Directory of Rural Health Contacts: Rural Research Centers
Web site
Lists contact information for research centers that engage in rural health research.
Effective Health Care Program
Web site
Provides reports from quality research in formats for consumers, clinicians, and policymakers. Several resources are available in Spanish.
HSRProj (Health Services Research Projects in Progress)
Database
Offers a searchable database of ongoing health services research and public health projects.
Key 2008 Poverty Statistics for Your Congressional District
Web site
Detailed poverty data organized by congressional district with additional breakdowns on child poverty, women in poverty and poverty among racial minorities.
Maternal and Child Health Library Rural Health Resource Brief
Web site
Lists and describes federal agency and professional organization Web sites containing fact sheets, data and research findings, reports, news, policy briefs, toolkits, presentations, databases, and multimedia sources on rural health programs, policy developments, and state rural health research centers. Provides links to state and federal agencies and organizations that focus on rural-health-related issues and best practices.
RAC Maps
Web site
Provides national maps on a variety of rural health and human services topics. Maps can be customized to focus on a specified state or county and to show additional labels, boundaries and data, for use in grant applications, reports and other publications.
Rural Health Disparities Information Guide
Web site
Lists research, websites, and frequently asked questions related to rural health disparities.
Rural Health Research & Policy Centers
Web site
Provides an overview of the purpose of the rural health research centers program. Includes information on ORHP-funded research centers, projects and research.
Rural Health Research Gateway
Web site
Provides access to all of the research and findings of the Office of Rural Health Policy's Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Centers. Covers current and completed research projects and publications resulting from those projects. Includes information about the research centers and individual researchers.
Rural Renewal Monitor
Web site
Collects news articles about innovative rural development efforts, challenges faced by rural communities, and rural policy developments.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Regions
Web site
Displays a color-coded map showing the ten designated HHS regions in the United States and Territories. Includes links and contact information for each region.
User's Guide to Finding and Evaluating Health Information on the Web
Web site
Provides tips on filtering the millions of health-related Web pages through the health subsets of major search engines and using quality electronic finding tools developed by the U.S. government to do an initial screen of Websites for further examination, and includes a set of guidelines developed for evaluating the content of health-related Websites.
What is Rural? Information Guide
Web site
Provides resources, information, and frequently asked questions on the various definitions used to identify rural areas in the United States.
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
2008 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Service Issues
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Includes a 20 year retrospective on rural health and human services.
Date: 04 / 2008
2009 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Service Issues
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Reports to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on issues related to rural America. Examines three key topics: workforce and community development, creating viable patient-centered medical homes, and serving at-risk children.
Date: 04 / 2009
Access to Social Services in Rural America: The Geography of the Safety Net in the Rural West
Author(s): Scott W. Allard, Jessica Cigna
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center
Investigates social services in high poverty rural regions in the American West in California, Oregon, and New Mexico to see what types of assistance are readily available to the rural poor.
Date: 06 / 2008
Bridging Rural Health Research and Policy: Dissemination Strategies
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Timothy D. McBride, Andrew F. Coburn, Rebecca T. Slifkin, Mary K. Wakefield, A. Clinton MacKinney
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Rural Health Panel
Describes five strategies for effective dissemination and expanded use of rural health
services research and discusses the infrastructure needed to enhance rural health research dissemination.
Date: 08 / 2007
Bridging the Health Divide: The Rural Public Health Research Agenda
Sponsoring organization: University of Pittsburgh Center for Rural Health Practice
Reports the results of a meeting rural public health experts held September 22-23, 2003, in Pittsburgh, PA. Describes the state of the rural public health infrastructure. Lists priority research questions for rural public health topics such as health care access, health disparities, preparedness, and environmental issues.
Date: 04 / 2004
Community-Based Research Framework
Author(s): John J. Green
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center
Discusses community-based research as a way to impact public policy more quickly.
Journal citation: Perspectives: On Poverty, Policy, and Place Volume 2 Issue 3 Pages: 14-16
Date: 2004
Disseminating Rural Health Research to State and National Audiences: A Communications Toolkit for Health Researchers
Author(s): Wendy Opsahl, Amanda Scurry, Mary Wakefield, Patricia Moulton, Kristine Sande, Naomi Lelm
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Research Gateway
Includes approaches for both developing various research-related documents and disseminating research results.
Date: 11 / 2008
Health Status and Health Care Access of Farm and Rural Populations
Author(s): Carol Adaire Jones, Timothy S. Parker, Mary Ahearn, Ashok K. Mishra, Jayachandran N. Variyam
Sponsoring organization: USDA Economic Research Service
Discusses health care access and health status in
rural areas, where the population is older, has lower education and income levels, and is more likely to be living in medically underserved areas.
Date: 08 / 2009
Improving Knowledge Transfer Among Health Researchers and Decisionmakers at the Border: An Expert Meeting
Sponsoring organization: Office of Rural Health Policy
Summarizes a June 26, 2007 meeting to identify ways to improve the translation and dissemination of U.S.-Mexico border health research produced in the United States so as to maximize its use by decisionmakers in health policy and practice.
Date: 06 / 2007
Place Matters: Challenges and Opportunities in Four Rural Americas
Author(s): Lawrence C. Hamilton, Leslie R. Hamilton, Cynthia M. Duncan, Chris R. Colocousis
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Presents the results from a survey that examines issues facing rural Americans focusing on economic changes, challenges, and realities; migration and demographic changes; religion, trust, and civil institutions; environment, natural resources, and energy; infrastructure and changing populations.
Date: 10 / 2008
Protecting Personal Health Information in Research: Understanding the HIPAA Privacy Rule
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Provides researchers with an understanding of the Privacy Rule and how it may affect health research.
Date: 04 / 2003
Rural Healthy People 2010: A Companion Document to Healthy People 2010. Volume 1
Author(s): Larry D. Gamm, Linnae L. Hutchison, Betty J. Dabney, Alicia M. Dorsey (editors)
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Brief overviews of the top rural health concerns and objectives associated with Healthy People 2010 focus areas, references to key literature about these concerns, and descriptions of models for practice that rural communities can draw upon to achieve key Healthy People 2010 objectives.
Date: 2003
Rural Healthy People 2010: A Companion Document to Healthy People 2010. Volume 2
Author(s): Larry D. Gamm, Linnae L. Hutchison, Betty J. Dabney, Alicia M. Dorsey (editors)
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Detailed literature reviews and associated references for the top rural health concerns addressed in Vol. 1 of Rural Healthy People 2010.
Date: 2003
Rural Healthy People 2010: A Companion Document to Healthy People 2010. Volume 3
Author(s): Larry D. Gamm, Linnae L. Hutchison (editors)
Sponsoring organization: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Addresses several rural health concerns and objectives not covered in Volumes 1 and 2 of Rural Healthy People 2010. Includes overviews, literature reviews, and accompanying models for practice for four rural health topics.
Date: 02 / 2005
Rural Issues Related to Comparative Effectiveness Research and Dissemination (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Ira Moscovice, Michelle Casey
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
Describes strategies for expanding clinical research in rural environments; implementing practice guidelines in rural settings; and improving access to current evidence-based information for rural health professionals and patients.
Date: 06 / 2009
Rural Research Needs and Data Sources for Selected Human Services Topics, Volume 1- Research Needs
Author(s): Debra A. Strong, Patricia Del Grosso, Andrew Burwick, Venita Jethwani, Michael Ponza
Sponsoring organization: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Overviews research on human services issues in rural areas. Includes sections addressing research on work supports for low-income families, substance abuse, and child welfare. Also discusses gaps in the rural health research.
Date: 05 / 2005
Rural Research Needs and Data Sources for Selected Human Services Topics, Volume 2 - Data Sources
Author(s): Debra A. Strong, Patricia Del Grosso, Jigar Bhatt, Shannon Philips, Kate Scheppke
Sponsoring organization: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Overviews the data sources that can be used for rural human services research. Includes detailed descriptions of selected federal and state data sources. Topics covered consist of: housing, income, youth, families, and behavioral risks.
Date: 05 / 2005
State of Human Services in Rural America
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center
Provides an overview of the types of human service programs serving rural communities and the challenges they face. Suggests a research agenda for rural America.
Journal citation: Perspectives: On Poverty, Policy, and Place Volume 5 Issue Winter Pages: 3 - 6
Date: 03 / 2009
Toward More Effective Use of Research in State Policymaking
Author(s): Jack A. Meyer, Tanya T. Alteras, Karen Adams
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Offers a conceptual framework to support effective use of health services research in state health policymaking. Provides practical lessons and communication strategies. Includes a case study of Massachusetts' health care reform legislation.
Date: 12 / 2006
Journals
Advances
Provides information on training, education, research, and projects that demonstrate the effective delivery of health care services.
Insights on Southern Poverty
Quarterly newsletter. Summarizes current research on issues salient to poverty in the South in a nontechnical format.
NRHA eNews
Provides updates on government affairs and on funding and educational opportunities related to rural America.
Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care
Peer-reviewed research and practice-related features for rural nurses and other health professionals.
Perspectives: On Poverty, Policy, and Place
Relays research findings on rural poverty. It is a quarterly newsletter from the Rural Poverty Research Center.
Research Activities
Includes announcements of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), their products and projects, and summarizes research findings from studies supported by the Agency.
Rural Realities
Serves as a peer-reviewed, web-based series that publishes four times a year. Each issue is devoted to a single topic. Seeks to showcase innovative applied research being conducted by RSS members and other rural social scientists that give attention to critical and timely rural issues.
Organizations
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Federal government
Sponsors and conducts research that provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use, and access. The information helps health care decisionmakers - patients and clinicians, health system leaders, purchasers, and policymakers - make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services.
American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)
National organization
Works to educate members of Congress, the media, and the broader public on what is happening in the states regarding welfare, child welfare, health care reform, and other issues involving families and the elderly.
Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM)
National organization
Works to improve public policy and management by fostering excellence in research, analysis, and education. Activities respect and enhance racial, ethnic, gender, disciplinary, and other forms of diversity among participants.
Center for Applied Research and Environmental Systems (CARES)
Academic/Research
Addresses the spatial and temporal dimensions of issues impacting rural America, by incorporating Internet-based geographic information systems, remote sensing technologies, and other data visualization and analytic tools. One of CARES's primary roles is to support the needs of others wishing to utilize geographic information technologies. Part of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI).
Center for the Advancement of Health (CFAH)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Translates to the public evidence-based research on health, health care, prevention and chronic disease management, with an emphasis on how social, behavioral and economic factors affect illness and well-being.
Commonwealth Fund
Nonprofit/Foundation
Supports independent research on health and social issues and makes grants to improve health care practice and policy. Dedicated to helping people become more informed about their health care and improving care for vulnerable populations such as children, elderly people, low-income families, minority Americans, and the uninsured.
Human Services Research Institute (HSRI)
Academic/Research
Assists states and the federal government to enhance services and support to people with mental illness and mental retardation, and to support the development of alternatives to congregate care facilities. Acts as a coordinating center for the evaluation of managed care for vulnerable populations. Assists in the dissemination of research necessary to ensure that public systems continue to be responsive to the needs of those they serve.
Maine Rural Health Research Center (MRHC)
Academic/Research
One of nine Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. Works to inform health care policymaking and the delivery of rural health services, focusing on rural health care financing and system reform, rural long term care, and rural mental health.
Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC)
Academic/Research
A nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization dedicated to learning what works to improve the well-being of low-income people. Through research and communication they work to affect policies and programs.
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR)
Commercial
Conducts research to support decisions about our nation's most pressing social policy problems. Past research includes studies of health care, welfare, education, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs in the United States.
Native American Research Centers on Health (NARCH)
Academic/Research
Federally-funded research centers that conduct research and research training responsive to the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research
Academic/Research
Conducts research and analysis related to improving health care delivery in rural areas on a national basis. Focuses on special populations among rural residents, including the elderly, children, minorities, mentally ill, under and uninsured, and new immigrants whose needs for assistance are unique.
Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government
Academic/Research
Conducts research on the role of state and local governments in American federalism and on the management and finances of states and localities. Also includes projects in health care, welfare, social services, education, public safety, and more.
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Academic/Research
Focuses on changes in Medicare payments to rural providers, access to care for rural residents, and rural public health infrastructure.
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Academic/Research
One of nine Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. Works to identify rural health problems through policy-relevant analyses, geographic and graphical presentation of data, and information dissemination. Focuses on rural hospitals and healthcare delivery organizations and access.
North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD)
State/regional organization
Initiates and facilitates rural development research and education programs to improve the social and economic well-being of rural people in the North Central region. One of four regional rural development centers in the nation.
Office of Human Services Policy (HSP)
Federal government
Focuses on welfare, poverty, service delivery issues, data for research, policies affecting children, youth, and families, and economic matters affecting the Department. HSP is in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC)
Academic/Research
Conducts research on issues of access to transportation and housing, employment and self-employment, independent living services, health and wellness facilities, and inclusion in community planning and activities of people with disabilities. Provides information and training to rural communities on disabilities.
Research Forum at the National Center for Children in Poverty
Academic/Research
Encourages collaborative research and informed policy on welfare reform, child and family well-being, and community/neighborhood issues, including those in rural areas.
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Academic/Research
One of nine Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. Focuses on rural health care financing/system reform, rural systems building, and meeting the health care needs of special rural populations.
RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center (RPRC)
Academic/Research
Works to understand how policy and practice can reduce poverty across the rural-urban continuum.
Rural Health Resource Center (RHRC)
National organization
Provides technical support for the State Offices of Rural Health and their flex coordinators for the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, focuses on rural practice opportunities for healthcare providers in Minnesota and the surrounding region, does performance improvement with hospitals across the country, and develops the Rural Health Resource Directory of rural consultants and speakers found throughout the United States.
South Carolina Rural Health Research Center (SCRHRC)
Academic/Research
One of nine Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. Focuses on investigating persistent inequities in health status within the population of the rural U.S., with an emphasis on inequities stemming from socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, and access to healthcare services.
Southwest Rural Health Research Center (SRHRC)
Academic/Research
Conducts and disseminates policy-relevant research on critical rural health issues, with a focus on: meeting and understanding the needs of rural underserved and special populations; eliminate or reduce health disparities; and maintain and build rural health systems.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Federal government
Acts as the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services.
Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center (UMRHRC)
Academic/Research
One of nine Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. Undertakes national projects focusing on quality of rural health care and other rural health issues by combining expertise with the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center and the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health.
Urban Institute (UI)
Academic/Research
Gathers data, conducts research, evaluates programs, offers technical assistance overseas, and educates Americans on social and economic issues — to foster sound public policy and effective government. Research includes rural America.
West Virginia Rural Health Research Center (WVRHRC)
Academic/Research
One of nine Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. Conducts policy-relevant research on environmental health in rural populations and other topics.
WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Academic/Research
Develops and evaluates strategies to promote the adoption of evidence-based mental health care to rural residents with depression and mental illness.
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center (WWAMI RHRC)
Academic/Research
One of nine Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. Focuses on training and supply of rural health care providers, availability and quality of care for rural women and children, and access to high-quality care for vulnerable and minority rural populations. Based in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Terms & Acronyms
Cooperative Agreement An agreement between a funding agency and grantee which allows the funder some control. These are often used by the government to conduct extramural clinical trials.
Cooperative Agreement An agreement between a funding agency and grantee which allows the funder some control. These are often used by the government to conduct extramural clinical trials.
Fellowship Financed research post, given to a post graduate student, providing study facilities and privileges in return for teaching services.
Fellowship Financed research post, given to a post graduate student, providing study facilities and privileges in return for teaching services.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) A committee of physicians, statisticians, researchers, community advocates, and others that ensures that a clinical trial is ethical and that the rights of study participants are protected. All clinical trials in the U.S. must be approved by an IRB before they begin. Every institution that conducts or supports biomedical or behavioral research involving humans must, by federal regulation, have an IRB that initially approves and periodically reviews the research so as to protect the rights of people.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) A committee of physicians, statisticians, researchers, community advocates, and others that ensures that a clinical trial is ethical and that the rights of study participants are protected. All clinical trials in the U.S. must be approved by an IRB before they begin. Every institution that conducts or supports biomedical or behavioral research involving humans must, by federal regulation, have an IRB that initially approves and periodically reviews the research so as to protect the rights of people.
Research Grants Grants administered by the federal government to support investigation aimed at the discovery of facts, clinical trials, revision of accepted theories, or applications of new or revised theories. Research grants for individuals are usually referred to as fellowships.
Research Grants Grants administered by the federal government to support investigation aimed at the discovery of facts, clinical trials, revision of accepted theories, or applications of new or revised theories. Research grants for individuals are usually referred to as fellowships.
Rural Health Research Center (RHRC) Established by ORHP to perform policy-oriented research on issues related to rural health care.
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