About Rural Health Research Centers and Analysis Initiatives

The Rural Health Research Center (RHRC) Program is designed to help policy makers, both in Washington and throughout the Nation, better understand the problems that rural communities face in assuring access to health care for their residents. This is the only Federal program that is dedicated entirely to producing policy-relevant research on health care in rural areas. Initiated in 1988, it is administered by the Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP), Health Resources and Services Administration.

The Centers study critical issues facing rural communities in their quest to secure adequate, affordable, high quality health services for their residents. The Centers' research findings inform a wide audience of National, State, and local decision-makers concerned with rural health. These research findings have been instrumental in bridging gaps between policy and program needs and have assisted in educating legislators and policymakers. Each year, specific research topics for the Centers are selected jointly by the Research Center Directors and the policy staff at ORHP. The emphasis is on research that will have a timely impact on policy debates and decisions at Federal and State levels.

For more information about the individual research centers funded under this program, please see http://www.ruralhealthresearch.org/centers.php.

About the Rural Health Research Gateway

The Rural Health Research Gateway web site provides easy and timely access to all of the research and findings of the ORHP-funded Rural Health Research Centers. The site can be used to find abstracts of both current and completed research projects, publications resulting from those projects, and information about the research centers themselves as well as individual researchers.

The Rural Health Research Gateway web site is hosted at the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health with funding from HRSA's federal Office of Rural Health Policy. Its intent is to help move new research findings of the Rural Health Research Centers to various end users as quickly and efficiently as possible.

For more information about this project:

• Rural Health Research Gateway: Community Audience Needs Study Report
  Contains the findings of the Community Audience Needs Study. Includes specific recommendations about several products including working papers, fact sheets, press releases, web sites and Rural Health Research Alerts.
• Rural Health Research Gateway: State Audience Needs Study Report
  Contains the findings of the State Audience Needs Study. Includes specific recommendations on dissemination approaches.
• Rural Health Research Gateway: National Audience Impact Study Report
  Reports findings on the impact of the Rural Health Research Gateway web site and a flyer describing the work of the Rural Health Research Centers.
• Disseminating Rural Health Research to Community, State and National Audiences: A Communications Toolkit for Health Researchers
  Facilitates dissemination and use of rural health services research. Is a resource for researchers to enhance communication and dissemination efforts.

 

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