West Virginia Rural Health Research Center

FORHP-funded RHRC, 2008-2012
Examines issues and topics primarily related to environmental health in rural populations, emphasizing the health impacts of human-made environmental risks, health care that is responsive to local environmental issues, and economic health disparities.

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West Virginia Rural Health Research Center Website

About the Research Center

The West Virginia Rural Health Research Center (WVRHRC) is co-located on the Morgantown and Charleston campuses of West Virginia University, providing access to the full complement of university departments and resources and to health policymakers at state and national levels. The WVRHRC is based in the Institute for Health Policy Research and the Department of Community Medicine, and includes researchers in other university units including Geography, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiology, Psychology, and the university's Office of Rural Health, with plans for expansion to additional areas. Advisory boards to the WVRHRC include national experts on rural health research and policy from throughout the country.

The WVRHRC conducts policy-relevant research on environmental health in rural populations and other rural health topics of national importance. Initial environmental studies include a geographic assessment of human-caused environmental hazards in rural areas in relation to population health outcomes, and a study of environmental competence as an extension of cultural competence among rural health care providers. Other research will focus on social and economic risk and resiliency in rural populations relative to health outcomes.

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.

2010 - 2013