Frontier health

Completed Projects

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

Assessment of the Area Deprivation Index in Rural Areas
The Area Deprivation Index (ADI) was created by University of Wisconsin researchers to provide a score for neighborhoods based on their level of disadvantage. This study characterized differences in ADI in rural vs urban areas, summarized the existing literature on ADI, and described expert considerations for utilizing the ADI for future policy.
Research center: Rural Health Equity Research Center
Topics: Frontier health, Health disparities and health equity, Poverty, Rural statistics and demographics, Social determinants of health

Comparisons of Rural Definitions
This project will lead to the creation of a mega rural and frontier website. This website will emphasize the use of various rural definitions and datasets for healthcare policy, policy analysis, and research. Additionally, researchers will review Dartmouth's Primary Care Service Areas (PCSAs), other Rational Service Area (RSA) methodologies, and alternative methodologies related to their strengths, weaknesses, and spatial analytic criteria regarding their ability to serve in the process of developing useful primary care service areas.
Research center: North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
Topic: Frontier health
Utilization of Hospital Care for Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
This project examines where rural and frontier Medicare beneficiaries access hospital care. Specifically, it explores the different types of inpatient care sought in local rural communities and at tertiary providers. Beneficiary patterns of care by condition, location type and other factors will be examined. The study will also focus on the bypassing behavior of rural residents when being hospitalized. Analysis sensitivity analyses are being performed regarding small travel time differences per alternative hospitals.
Research center: North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
Topics: Frontier health, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare

Implications of Rural Ambulance Service Closures
The purpose of this project was to examine closed ambulance services and those ambulance services adjacent to the closed units. The ambulance services adjacent to those which closed were examined by service area, workload, and staffing for one year prior to and one year after the adjacent service closure.
Research center: North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
Topics: Allied health professionals, Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Frontier health, Health disparities and health equity, Health services, Workforce

Examination of Rural and Frontier Home Health Services
This mixed-method study is an in-depth examination of access to and utilization of home health services provided in rural and frontier areas. The study begins to explore how influential patient-centered decision-making is in determining the type of post-acute care services used by rural and frontier Medicare beneficiaries.
Research center: North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
Topics: Frontier health, Home health, Post-acute care

Frontier and Rural Definition Development and Dissemination Project
The Frontier and Remote (FAR) codes are a new geographic definition that delineates frontier/remote areas in the U.S.
Research center: North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
Topic: Frontier health

Webcast: What Rural Primary Care Physicians Need to Know about Treating Patients with Mental Health Diagnoses
Training via distance learning technology that promotes collaborative care models in primary care is consistent with federal and state policy recommendations.
Research center: WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Topics: Frontier health, Mental and behavioral health, Physicians

Impact of Health Insurance Coverage on Native Elder Health: Implications for Addressing the Health Care Needs of Rural American Indian Elders
This project examined the types of health insurance coverage of rural Native American elders ages 55 and older, and examine how different types of health insurance coverage and lack of health insurance coverage impact access to health care services among Native American elders by geographic location (rural frontier, rural non-frontier and urban).
Research center: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
Topics: Aging, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Frontier health, Healthcare access, Minority health, Private health insurance, Rural statistics and demographics, Uninsured and underinsured

Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) Development Project: Demographic Description and Frontier Enhancement
This project augments the initial RUCA work by producing and describing the base 1998 demography of the RUCA code areas, creating quality state maps of the RUCA codes, and making this information and the codes easily available on the Web.
Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Topic: Frontier health

Prevalence of Chronic Disease and the Degree of Rurality of American Indian Elders in a Nationally Representative Sample of 100 Tribes
This project will determine if there are differences in prevalence of chronic disease in American Indian elders across age groups in urban vs. rural vs. frontier counties. Moderating factors of chronic disease will also be examined including health damaging behaviors, access to health care services and providers and degree of functional limitation.
Research center: FORHP-funded Individual Grantees
Topics: Aging, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Chronic diseases and conditions, Frontier health, Long-term care, Minority health, Rural statistics and demographics

Rural EMS Infrastructure
Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
Topics: Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Frontier health