Rural Health Research Centers and Analysis Initiatives

The Office of Rural Health Policy currently funds the following six rural health research centers and three rural health policy analysis initiatives:

• Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Addresses critical, policy relevant issues in health care access and financing, rural hospitals, primary care and behavioral health. The Center's core funding from the federal Office of Rural Health Policy is targeted to behavioral health.
• North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Works to identify rural health problems through policy-relevant analyses, geographic and graphical presentation of data, and information dissemination. The Center’s work primarily focuses on federal insurance programs (Medicare and Medicaid) and their effect on rural populations and providers.
• Rapid Response to Requests for Rural Data Analysis
  Is one of the designated Rural Health Policy Analysis Initiatives. The Center is based at the University of North Carolina’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, and is able, through that relationship, to draw on the experience of a wide variety of scholars, researchers, analysts, managers and health service providers.
• Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
  Is one of the designated Rural Health Policy Analysis Initiatives. Informs policy makers and practitioners about key health and human services policy issues.
• Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Is one of the designated Rural Health Policy Analysis Initiatives. Focuses on rural health care financing/system reform, rural systems building, and meeting the health care needs of special rural populations.
• South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Works to shed light on the persistent inequities in health status within the population of the rural U.S., with an emphasis on inequities stemming from socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, and access to healthcare services.
• Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
  Is a partnership of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center and the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health. The centers combine expertise to undertake national projects focusing on quality of rural health care and other rural health issues.
• West Virginia Rural Health Research Center
  Conducts policy-relevant research on environmental health in rural populations, with an emphasis on the health impacts of human-made environmental risks, and on health care that is responsive to local environmental issues. The Center also pursues topics related to social and economic health disparities.
• WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Focuses on training and supply of rural health care providers, availability and quality of care for rural women and children, and access to high-quality care for vulnerable and minority rural populations. Based in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

A printable overview of the research centers, listing each center's web site, director, contact information, and areas of focus, is available:

• Rural Health Research Center Flyer
   

The Office of Rural Health Policy also supports rural health research conducted by individual researchers through the One-Year Rural Health Research Grant Program:

• ORHP-Funded Individual Grantees

In previous funding cycles, the Office of Rural Health Policy funded these research centers:

• Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Funding Cycle: 09/1996 - 08/2000
  A partner in the Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center, one of eight rural health research centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. This center also has current projects funded by ORHP as part of the Flex Monitoring Team.
• Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Funding Cycle: 09/2000 - 08/2004
  The Southwest Rural Health Research Center conducts and disseminates policy-relevant research on critical rural health issues, with a focus on: meeting and understanding the needs of rural underserved and special populations; eliminate or reduce health disparities; and maintain and build rural health systems.
• Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
  Funding Cycle: 09/2004 - 08/2008
  The Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis focuses on implications of Medicare payment policies, access to care, home health care, public health infrastructure, emergency preparedness, workforce issues, and health information technology.
• WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
  Funding Cycle: 09/2004 - 08/2008
  The objective of the WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research is to develop and disseminate scientific knowledge that can be readily applied to improve the use, quality and outcomes of mental health care provided to rural populations.