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Rural Health
Research Gateway

University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center

Completed Projects

Listed by project completion date. You can also view these projects alphabetically.

2023

2022

2021

2020

  • Rural Colon and Cervical Cancer Environmental Scan
    Detailed research was needed to provide a complex, textured picture of rural healthcare and the ways in which existing federally supported providers could provide adequate services across the continuum of cancer care from prevention through survivorship.
    Topic: Cancer

2019

  • Identification of High-Need Rural Counties Lacking an FQHC Presence
    Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have been key safety net providers since the program was initiated. However, many rural communities lack this resource. Expanding on the index of relative rural deprivation developed by the University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, we identified high-need rural counties that currently are not served by an FQHC or similar provider.
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
  • Identifying Obesogenic Communities in the U.S.: An Urban-Rural Comparison
    In this study, we created an obesogenic environment score for all U.S. counties and Census tracts, explored urban versus rural differences in obesogenic environment scores, and examined associations between obesogenic environments and childhood obesity overall and by level of rurality.
    Topics: Children and adolescents, Obesity
  • Perceived Facilitators and Barriers to Rural Ambulatory Care Practice Among Registered Nurses
    Although a quarter of all registered nurses work in ambulatory care settings, little research has addressed the factors associated with their remaining in the profession and current job settings. The study surveyed a sample of rural and urban nurses to ascertain perceived facilitators and barriers to remaining in rural practice.
    Topics: Nurses and nurse practitioners, Workforce
  • Promotion of Rural Health Research Center Attendance at Cancer-Related Meetings
    This project will promote attendance at cancer-related meetings by Rural Health Research Centers by facilitating the dissemination of information regarding important cancer meetings and handling the travel arrangements for Rural Health Research Center personnel.
    Topic: Cancer
  • Rural Nursing Workforce: Current Educational Characteristics and Options for Improvement
    This project examined the current distribution of nurses, subset by educational attainment, across the rural U.S. using data from Census Public-Use Microdata files. Then surveyed approximately 750 registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing (RN-to-BSN) educational programs across the U.S. identifying the proportion of programs offering rural content or facilitating rural placement.
    Topics: Nurses and nurse practitioners, Workforce

2018

2017

  • Disparities in Access to Oral Health Care Among Rural Children: Current Status and Models for Innovation
    The ACA contains key provisions on addressing oral health disparities among vulnerable populations. This project will provide baseline information on trends in rural health and describe the experiences of four states taking innovative approaches to implementation of key ACA oral health provisions.
    Topics: Children and adolescents, Oral health
  • Potential Impact of ESRD Payment Reform on Rural Dialysis Patients
    This study will estimate the potential implications of rural dialysis facility loss for rural patients. Specifically, we will identify low-volume dialysis facilities in rural areas, profile the patients they serve, and estimate the additional travel burden that these patients would experience if facilities close.
    Topics: Health services, Hospitals and clinics
  • Trends in Rural Children's Health and Access to Care
    The past ten years have seen positive trends in the availability of health insurance coverage for children, coupled with worsening trends for poverty. This project will examine data from three iterations of the National Survey of Children' Health (2003, 2007, 2012) to see whether rural children have benefited equally from any improvements in health insurance, healthcare use, and health status.
    Topics: Children and adolescents, Private health insurance

2016

2015

  • Post-Hospital Transitions in Care Among Dually-Eligible Medicare Beneficiaries
    This project will examine the hospitalization rates, post-discharge physician follow-up, and subsequent readmission rates among Medicare beneficiaries who are also enrolled in Medicaid. We will examine these dual-eligible beneficiaries by level of rurality to determine if residence is a significant factor in these rates. We will also control for co-morbidities, county characteristics, and other factors related to readmission rates.
    Topics: Diabetes, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare
  • Role of Free Clinics in the Rural Safety Net
    This two-part study will combine a mapping project that documents the location of free clinics across the US with a telephone survey of the 21 state and 2 regional free clinic associations.
    Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
  • Rural Area Deprivation and Hospitalizations Among Children for Ambulatory Sensitive Conditions
    Rural areas with reduced social and economic resources may be particularly vulnerable to inadequate primary care for children.
    Topics: Children and adolescents, Hospitals and clinics

2014

  • Adequacy of Home Health Care Availability in Rural Counties
    This project will describe current distribution of HHC agencies, by ZIP Code and county of facility location and of service provision, across levels of rurality. Second, the project will estimate whether rural populations at risk for inadequate access to HHC, based on projected population need population / provider ratios.
    Topics: Aging, Home health
  • Intensity of Service Provision for Medicare Beneficiaries Utilizing Home Health Services
    This study will assess whether Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas receive a lower intensity of home health (HH) services compared to their urban counterparts. Specifically, the study will examine (1) the distribution of levels of HH services for four conditions: joint (hip and knee) replacement, stroke, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and diabetes; (2) the distribution of type of provider for each condition across the levels of rurality; and (3) the median charge and payment per beneficiary for these services across the levels of rurality.
    Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Diabetes, Home health, Medicare
  • Profiling Health and Health Resource Availability in U.S. – Mexico Border Counties
    This project will augment a previous SCRHRC chartbook on Border health with additional information on health resources and health outcomes in US counties adjacent to Mexico.

2012

  • Analysis of State Dental Hygiene Practice Acts and Medicaid Policies for Children's Dental Care: Services Covered and Practitioners Reimbursed
    The purpose of this qualitative analysis will be to obtain a clear picture of the degree to which (1) state SCHIP and Medicaid programs are implementing waivers, or other programs, to improve access to dental care for vulnerable populations including children and pregnant women; and (2) dental hygienists impact the dental safety net for rural America.
    Topics: Children and adolescents, Maternal health, Medicaid and CHIP, Oral health
  • Dialysis Availability in Rural America
    Working from Medicare Dialysis Compare files and the Standard Analysis File of the US Renal Data System, we will evaluate the current availability of dialysis services across rural America. We will examine general availability of services, service to population ratios, and patient outcome measures across levels of rurality.
    Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Diabetes, Medicare
  • Rural HIV: Estimated Prevalence of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Rural America
    This study will describe the prevalence of HIV/AIDS by county, or when county-level data are not available, by sub-state region or state, together with information on the availability of health services, including Ryan White Clinics. A sub-study will develop models identifying rural counties at highest risk for increases in the population of PLWHA.
    Topic: Chronic diseases and conditions

2010

2009

2006

  • Rural Health Center Expansion and Recruitment Survey
    This collaborative project between WWAMI and the South Carolina Rural Health Research Centers examined and described the current staffing needs of rural health centers (RHCs), ascertained the staffing, recruitment, and retention issues that RHC CEOs regard as most critical; distinguished how issues differ between CEOs contemplating development of expansion sites versus those who are not; and described how these findings correlate with the literature and current national supply projections for the categories of health professions needed by the RHCs.
    Topics: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Workforce

2005

2003

2002