Southwest Rural Health Research Center

The mission of the Southwest Rural Health Research Center is to conduct policy-relevant rural health research focusing on: (1) the distinctive health needs of rural, underserved, and special populations, (2) the reduction of health disparities among minority and underserved populations, and (3) capacity building and maintenance of rural health systems, with a special focus on evaluating health services delivery.

Leadership

Deputy Director:

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About the Research Center

Established in 2000, the Southwest Rural Health Research Center (SRHRC) is based in the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University. A unique combination of faculty strengths in health policy, health economics, long-term care, aging, health law, epidemiology, biostatistics, and chronic disease enable the SRHRC to address the needs of rural, underserved populations across Texas and the nation. The SRHRC research projects have focused on chronic disease, mental health and substance use services, community health workers, telehealth capacity, and maternal and child health. Since 2011, the SRHRC, in partnership with the College of Medicine, began providing community-based education and outreach, data analysis and dissemination for cancer prevention and screening programs in Texas.

The SRHRC is also home to Rural Healthy People, a national resource providing federal and state health policy planners with valuable information, and rural leaders and health care providers with critical tools for responding to the needs of the communities they serve.

The goals of the SRHRC are three-fold:
  • Conduct timely and nationally relevant health-related research that is pertinent to rural populations, health care providers, and other stakeholders,
  • Collaborate with other institutions and rural health professionals in a way that leverages the unique skills of academic and agency researchers, as well as health services delivery personnel to conduct and disseminate research,
  • Mentor future rural health experts by involving students from various disciplines in proposal development, data analysis, interpretation of results, and dissemination of research findings.

Research History

The Rural Health Research Centers and Policy Analysis Initiatives are funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). These Centers are funded through multi-year cooperative agreements. This Center has produced research products funded by FORHP during the following years.

  • 2017 - current
  • 2002 - 2005