West Virginia Rural Health Research Center

Completed Projects

Key Environmental Competencies for Rural Primary Care Providers
This study will develop, from existing single discipline standards, a competency guide that will address competencies that are essential for providing environmentally conscious care. The study will then systematically evaluate content validity, completeness and clarity of the competencies.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Public health

Rural Environmental Hazards Inventory and Associated Health Outcomes
This study will create a national inventory of potential environmental hazards for rural populations. Population health outcomes such as CDC mortality statistics will be examined to determine if poor health outcomes are related to greater exposures to potential hazards.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health

Rural Food Security, Food Availability, and Health Outcomes
This project will examine the characteristics of food security and food availability across the rural-urban continuum. The study will test the hypotheses that food insecurity will differ significantly between rural and urban counties in the US with rural areas experiencing more adverse conditions; and that there will be a significant relationship between food insecurity, food availability and selected adverse health outcomes in non-metropolitan counties in the US.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topic: Obesity

Rural Socioeconomic Risk and Resiliency Inventory and Associated Health Outcomes
This study will create a national inventory of social and economic risks and resiliencies for every county in the nation, and relate those risks to health outcome data. The study will test whether rural areas with fewer risks and greater resiliencies are related to better health outcomes.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Poverty

Toxics Release Inventory Sites and Population Health across Rural and Urban Areas
Previous research has identified higher mortality rates in rural areas in association with exposure to pollution sources. This study conducts mortality outcome analyses specific to discharges from Toxics Release Inventory sites across the spectrum of rural to urban settings.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Public health

Water Quality Issues in Rural-Urban Areas: The Good (Fluoridation), the Bad (Chemical Pollutants) and the Ugly (Health Consequences)
This study will investigate the availability of fluoridated water across urban-rural settings, and relate measures of fluoride availability to survey measures of dental health. The study will also investigate rural population exposure to chemical pollutants in surface water by measuring volumes and types of discharges from EPA-recognized water pollution sources, including sources located in rural areas and in upstream urban areas, and relating these measures to population health outcomes.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Public health

Topics Centers Researchers Other Resources Search		West Virginia Rural Health Research Center Completed Projects Key Environmental Competencies for Rural Primary Care Providers This study will develop, from existing single discipline standards, a competency guide that will address competencies that are essential for providing environmentally conscious care. The study will then systematically evaluate content validity, completeness and clarity of the competencies. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Public health Rural Environmental Hazards Inventory and Associated Health Outcomes This study will create a national inventory of potential environmental hazards for rural populations. Population health outcomes such as CDC mortality statistics will be examined to determine if poor health outcomes are related to greater exposures to potential hazards. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health Rural Food Security, Food Availability, and Health Outcomes This project will examine the characteristics of food security and food availability across the rural-urban continuum. The study will test the hypotheses that food insecurity will differ significantly between rural and urban counties in the US with rural areas experiencing more adverse conditions; and that there will be a significant relationship between food insecurity, food availability and selected adverse health outcomes in non-metropolitan counties in the US. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topic: Obesity Rural Socioeconomic Risk and Resiliency Inventory and Associated Health Outcomes This study will create a national inventory of social and economic risks and resiliencies for every county in the nation, and relate those risks to health outcome data. The study will test whether rural areas with fewer risks and greater resiliencies are related to better health outcomes. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Poverty Toxics Release Inventory Sites and Population Health across Rural and Urban Areas Previous research has identified higher mortality rates in rural areas in association with exposure to pollution sources. This study conducts mortality outcome analyses specific to discharges from Toxics Release Inventory sites across the spectrum of rural to urban settings. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Public health Water Quality Issues in Rural-Urban Areas: The Good (Fluoridation), the Bad (Chemical Pollutants) and the Ugly (Health Consequences) This study will investigate the availability of fluoridated water across urban-rural settings, and relate measures of fluoride availability to survey measures of dental health. The study will also investigate rural population exposure to chemical pollutants in surface water by measuring volumes and types of discharges from EPA-recognized water pollution sources, including sources located in rural areas and in upstream urban areas, and relating these measures to population health outcomes. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Environmental & agricultural health, Public health