University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center

Current Projects

• Access to and Use of Midwifery Care for Rural Residents
  Rural obstetric unit closures and health care workforce shortages limit access to care for pregnant rural residents. Our goal is to describe the midwifery workforce in rural communities and at rural hospitals that provide obstetric care, and to assess rural-urban differences in use of midwifery care at the time of childbirth.
  Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Women, Workforce
  
• Addressing Elder Abuse in Rural Areas
  Elder abuse, including financial, physical, and emotional abuse, as well as self-neglect, is widespread and impacts individual and population health outcomes. However, despite the fact that rural residents are older, in poorer health, and more financially vulnerable, little is known about rural/urban differences in the prevalence of and resources to address elder abuse; this project will address those gaps.
  Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Social determinants of health, Violence and abuse
  
• Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) Among Rural Residents: The State of the Field and Promising Research Directions
  This project seeks to identify what is known about rural Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) prevalence, outcomes, and health care utilization, and what public data exist to inform research rural ADRD going forward.
  Topics: Aging, Care management, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Social determinants of health
  
• Challenges to Implementing Recommended Cybersecurity Practices at Rural Hospitals
  This project seeks to identify and describe financial costs of adopting recommended cybersecurity practices at rural hospitals, differences in cybersecurity challenges faced by critical access hospitals (CAHs) and other rurally-located hospitals, and workforce-related challenges such as recruitment and retention of qualified information technology and information security professionals.
  Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Health information technology, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Workforce
  
• Extent and Coverage of Rural PACE Services
  Supporting independent living and aging in place for rural residents is more important than ever. This project will provide information on the extent and coverage of rural Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) programs, along with insights into the unique challenges and opportunities faced by PACE programs operating in rural areas.
  Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Healthcare access, Home health, Social determinants of health
  
• Financial Analysis of Rural Obstetric Care Hospitals
  The purpose of this project is to describe the financial stability and hospital longevity of rural and urban hospitals before and after obstetric unit closure. Additionally, we will identify financial factors that contribute to decisions around obstetric service provision in rural communities in order to better understand the factors that lead to—or could prevent—obstetric unit closures.
  Topics: Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health
  
• Geographic and Socio-Demographic Correlates of Medical Debt Among Rural Residents
  Medical debt is widespread and impacts financial well-being and access to care. While research suggests that medical debt is higher among rural residents compared to urban residents, more work is needed to conclusively demonstrate rural/urban differences in medical debt and within-rural risk factors for greater medical debt by geography and socio-demographic characteristics.
  Topics: Healthcare access, Poverty, Public health, Rural statistics and demographics, Social determinants of health
  
• Higher-Level Neonatal and Obstetric/Well-Infant Care Access in Rural Communities
  This project's goal is to describe access to childbirth-related care for families living in rural and urban communities, including attention to rural communities without access to either neonatal or obstetric services, and those communities with obstetric and well-infant care, but without higher-level neonatal care.
  Topics: Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health, Women
  
• Improving Health for "Homebound" Older Adults in Rural and Urban Areas
  This project will describe rural-urban differences in the risk of, and characteristics associated with, being classified as "homebound." We will also identify policy and programmatic interventions to reduce the risk of becoming homebound as well as to improve outcomes for those who are homebound.
  Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Home health, Rural statistics and demographics, Social determinants of health
  
• Measuring Rural-Urban Differences in Indigenous American Indian and Alaska Native Health
  This project will describe rural-urban and regional differences in health and health care access for Indigenous American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people.
  Topics: Healthcare access, Rural statistics and demographics, Social determinants of health
  
• Mental Health Outcomes and Access to Care Among Rural Older Adults
  This project seeks to identify: 1) rates of depression, anxiety, and other common mental health conditions among rural older adults, including differences in rates of mental health conditions by age, 2) use of and access to mental health care among rural older adults, and 3) promising models to reduce barriers to mental health care among rural older adults.
  Topics: Aging, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Social determinants of health, Substance use and treatment
  
• Monitoring Obstetric Unit Closures and Measuring Closure Impacts to Support Rural Maternity Care Access
  This project will create a public health data infrastructure with annually updated information on the loss of hospital-based obstetric services, merging policy-relevant hospital and county characteristics with transportation and geographic data, and measuring trends over time in the loss of hospital-based obstetric care.
  Topics: Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health, Women
  
• Neonatal Care at Rural Hospitals: Describing Access, Closures and Levels of Childbirth-Related Care
  This project will describe access to childbirth-related care for families living in rural and urban communities; it will document access to neonatal care and the levels of that care, describe rural counties that have lost access to neonatal care, and identify rural counties without access to either obstetric or neonatal services.
  Topics: Children and adolescents, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health, Quality, Women
  
• Rapid Response Obstetric Care Data Access
  The purpose of this project is to produce rapid response descriptive analyses at the request of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy regarding obstetric services at rural hospitals and maternity care in rural communities.
  Topics: Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health
  
• Rural-Urban Differences in Access to and Quality of Care for People With Disabilities
  The purpose of this project is to identify rural-urban differences in access to and quality of health care services for people with disabilities. Results from this project will help inform policy to improve access to and quality of care for this growing population in rural areas.
  Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Healthcare access, Quality, Social determinants of health