Public health

Completed Projects

Creating an Integrated Health Outreach System to Isolated Colonia Residents in Hidalgo County, Texas
Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Funders: Bureau of Primary Care, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
Topics: Border and international health, Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health

Evaluating Colonias and the Use of Promatoras on the U.S.-Mexico Border
Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Border and international health, Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health

Financing Rural Public Health Activities in Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Research center: Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Health care financing, Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health
This project describes the federal-state funding streams for selected local public health activities in the area of chronic disease prevention and health promotion, and assesses potential barriers to program implementation in less populated, local areas of a state.

Pharmaceutical Data Validity in Estimating Rural Population Health
Research center: ORHP-funded Individual Grantees
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Public health, Rural statistics and demographics
This project will allow for the quantification of variation in morbidity (via prescription use) across rural areas; identify locations that might be at risk for stunted economic development due to high levels of chronic illness in the working population; and potentially lead to the development of a valid and reliable measure of county-level rates of chronic illness using prescription data as a proxy.

Public Health System Performance Measurement: Are Standards Applicable to Rural Communities?
Research center: Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Legislation and regulation, Public health
This project aims to increase understanding of how public health governance affects the structure of public health services, and how this in turn influences the strategies adopted for meeting community public health needs in rural areas.

Rural Healthy People 2010 Expansion: Access to Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation Services, Educational and Community-Based Programs, and Public Health Infrastructure
Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health services, Healthy People 2010 (Rural), Long term care, Public health
This project expanded the work of Healthy People 2010 by adding three additional chapters and associated models for practice: Access to Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation Services, Educational and Community-Based Programs, and Public Health Infrastructure.

View the models for practice and literature reviews on the Rural Health People 2010 website at http://srph.tamhsc.edu/centers/rhp2010/.

Rural Healthy People 2010: A Companion Document for Rural Areas
Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health promotion and disease prevention, Healthy People 2010 (Rural), Public health
This project identified and examined approximately one dozen high priority objectives for rural health as a subset of the hundreds of objectives defined within Healthy People 2010 including, Access to Quality Health Services (Insurance, Primary Care, and EMS); Cancer; Diabetes; Heart Disease and Stroke; Maternal, Infant, and Child Health; Mental Health and Mental Disorders; Nutrition and Overweight Concerns; Oral Health; Substance Abuse; and Tobacco Use.

Research and practice literatures associated with each of the selected objectives were investigated by the project research teams and summarized along with associated models for practice. View the models for practice and literature reviews on the Rural Health People 2010 website at http://srph.tamhsc.edu/centers/rhp2010/.

Rural Healthy People 2010: Expansion Project
Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health promotion and disease prevention, Healthy People 2010 (Rural), Physical abuse and domestic violence, Public health
The purpose of this expansion project is to build on the findings of Rural Health People 2010 by concentrating on the 13th and 14th highest ranking rural priority areas (Immunization and Infection Diseases; Injury and Violence Prevention) and their associated models for practice.

View the models for practice and literature reviews on the Rural Health People 2010 website at http://srph.tamhsc.edu/centers/rhp2010/.

Rural Public Health Department Structure and Infrastructure
Research center: ORHP-funded Individual Grantees
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Networking and collaboration, Public health
This project is intended to generate hypotheses about the relationship of local public health department structure and infrastructure to performance. Using case studies of 12 rural public health departments in six geographically diverse states, investigators hope to identify elements of local health department (LHD) structure to serve as independent variables for future studies of LHD performance.