Disabilities

Completed Projects

Disability Burdens among Rural and Urban Older Americans
Research center: South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Health disparities, Long term care, Rural statistics and demographics
This project will use the 1994-2000 Second Longitudinal Study of Aging to develop detailed estimates of healthy, disabled, and total life expectancy among rural and urban populations. We will develop and compare the estimates between women and men, by race/ethnicity, and across differing levels of education.

Medicaid Budget Cuts and Long-Term Care Supplement
Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Health policy, Long term care, Medicaid and S-CHIP
Data on each state will be collected identifying all the changes made to their Medicaid program in the area of long-term care or related services to the frail elderly and disabled, and a policy paper addressing the impact of Medicaid cuts on long term care services, particularly among the elderly in rural areas, will be produced.

Medicaid Budget Cuts: Effects on Rural Nursing Homes and Rural Elderly and Disabled
Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Long term care, Medicaid and S-CHIP
This project will investigate whether nursing home quality and access to nursing home care have eroded in rural areas as a result of changes in Medicare payments or reductions in Medicaid nursing home payments from 2000-2003.

Unmet Needs for Health Care Services: An Analysis of Children with Special Health Care Needs in Rural Areas
Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Children, Dental health, Disabilities, Health services
This project will study whether parents of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) who live in rural areas are less likely to perceive the need for routine and specialty medical care than their metropolitan counterparts, and whether CSHCN that live in rural areas face a greater risk of having unmet needs for health care services than their metropolitan counterparts.

Urban and Rural Differences in Utilization Patterns, Risk Factors and Expenditures of the Dually Eligible Elderly and Non-Elderly Persons with Disabilities
Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Aging, Disabilities, Medicaid and S-CHIP, Medicare