Southwest Rural Health Research Center

Current Projects

• "Older, Sicker, Poorer": A Scoping Review of the Literature That Contributes to This Narrative on Rural Americans
  The investigators will conduct a scoping review of peer-reviewed literature to explore the contributive evidence that rural Americans are older, sicker, and poorer. The project will provide historical and context-setting perspectives on the factors that have led to this description and the extent to which it still holds true. The project will also identify literature gaps to inform future research.
  Topics: Aging, Poverty, Rural statistics and demographics
  
• Assessing the Clinical and Financial Impact of Community Health Workers in Rural America
  This scoping review project will assess how often the existing literature has examined community health workers (CHW) in rural America and what the literature suggests about the clinical and financial impact that CHWs have in rural communities.
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Health promotion and disease prevention, Social determinants of health
  
• Evaluating the Impact and Progress of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network Program
  HRSA established the Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network Program to expand health service capacity by supporting public health job development, training, and placement in rural and tribal communities. This project will examine how the program's 32 grantees implemented their activities and will assess the impact of their program activities.
  Topics: Allied health professionals, Workforce
  
• Federal Agencies' Recent Collaboration and Innovation in Rural Cancer Control: A Model for Practice
  The investigators will conduct an examination of the multi-year effort by the National Cancer Institute to focus on rural cancer issues and its collaboration with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. The project will explore the key pieces of evidence that served as the impetus for the emphasis on rural America in cancer control efforts.
  Topics: Cancer, Health disparities and health equity
  
• Identifying and Exploring the Settings That Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Are Practicing in as Well as Trends in Specialization in These Groups
  Investigators will conduct a descriptive study to assess trends in specialty and population foci of nurse practitioners (NP) and physician assistants (PA). They will also explore changes in the number of clinician types billing for procedures. Trends will be assessed by census region to inform FORHP on areas for which use of NPs and PAs can be bolstered.
  Topics: Health services, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physician assistants
  
• Racial and Ethnic Disparities Shouldered by Rural Americans: Evidence from the Peer-Reviewed and Grey Literature on the Five Leading Causes of Death
  A systematic review of peer-reviewed and grey literature will explore the role of racial and ethnic disparities in the five leading causes of death. The project will provide historical and context setting perspectives on the contributors to the five leading causes of death, particularly as they involve the intersection of rurality and non-majority demographic identities.
  Topics: Cancer, Chronic diseases and conditions, Health disparities and health equity, Minority health
  
• The Intersection of Race/Ethnicity and Rurality in Pediatric Asthma: Trends and Predictors
  Little is known about the extent to which the intersection of race/ethnicity and rurality plays a role in the disparities associated with asthma outcomes, particularly among children. Using the National Inpatient Sample from 2015 – 2019, this project identified trends in pediatric asthma-related hospitalizations and the significant predictors of them, particularly by considering interaction terms.
  Topics: Children and adolescents, Chronic diseases and conditions, Health disparities and health equity
  
• Trends and Predictors of Urban-Rural and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospitalizations Associated with the Top Five Cancers
  This project will serve to update the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's cancer research portfolio. Using recent nationally representative hospital discharge data, the researchers will examine trends and predictors of hospitalizations associated with the top five cancers in the U.S.: skin, lung, prostrate, breast, and colorectal.
  Topics: Cancer, Health disparities and health equity
  
• Trends and Predictors of Urban-Rural and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospitalizations Tied to Acute Myocardial Infarction
  This project will update the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's research portfolio on hospital-based disparities associated with acute myocardial infarctions (AMIs). Very little is known about variances in hospital-based outcomes for AMIs along the urban-rural continuum and among diverse sub-populations in the U.S.
  Topic: Health disparities and health equity
  
• Updating and Exploring the Burden of Potentially Avoidable Emergency Department Visits in Rural U.S. Communities
  This project will update the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's research portfolio on potentially avoidable emergency department (ED) visits among rural residents across the U.S., particularly as they relate to ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs). Data on ACSC-related ED visits will be drawn from the State Emergency Department Databases, and findings will be stratified by census region, patient's place along the urban-rural continuum, and by race/ethnicity.
  Topics: Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Healthcare access, Medicaid and CHIP, Uninsured and underinsured
  
• Utilization of Hospital-Based Services for Behavioral Health Conditions
  This project will update the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's portfolio on rural residents' reliance on hospital-based care for behavioral health conditions. Data will be drawn from the State Emergency Department Databases and the National Inpatient Sample and findings will be presented in the context of patient residence along the urban-rural continuum, census region, insurance coverage, and race.
  Topics: Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health