Research Publications

Browse the full list of research publications from the Rural Health Research Centers.

Products – Freely accessible products include policy briefs, fact sheets, full reports, chartbooks, and interactive data websites.

Journal Articles – Articles in peer-reviewed journals may require a subscription or affiliation with a subscribing library. For these publications, Gateway lists the article citation, a brief summary, a link to additional information and access to the full-text of the article, if available.

Browse Research Products:

• By Date
• By Topic
• By Research Center
• By Researcher

Five Most Recent Publications

• Access and Quality of Mental Health Services in Rural and Urban America
  Policy Brief
  University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 07/2025
  Access to and quality of mental health facilities is a significant concern in the United States. This research identified disparities in mental health access and care quality by residence rurality.
• Preventing Medical Debt Among Rural Residents: Example Programs From Hospitals in Minnesota and Montana
  University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 06/2025
  This case series highlights efforts by rural hospitals to prevent medical debt for their patients. These may serve as examples to others considering ways to address health care affordability in their rural communities.
• The Impact of High Hospital Fixed-Cost Ratios on Rural Populations
  Policy Brief
  RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Date: 06/2025
  This brief focuses on rural hospitals with high fixed-to-total-cost ratios and describes characteristics of those hospitals, including Critical Access Hospital and Low-Volume Hospital status, and provides some demographics on the communities they serve.
• Rural and Urban Differences in Suicide in the United States, 2018-2021
  Policy Brief
  ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 05/2025
  Suicide remains a significant cause of mortality in the United States. This policy brief examines state-level differences in suicide rates by demographics and geography, with a focus on rural and urban areas from 2018 to 2021. The study employs a cross-sectional, retrospective design using secondary data sources.
• Impact of Hospital Closure on Rural Communities: A Qualitative Study
  Report
  RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Date: 05/2025
  Rising rates of rural hospital closures have prompted concerns about access to care in affected communities. This paper summarizes findings from interviews with state and community leaders who experienced hospital closures between May 2010 and December 2017, detailing their impact on rural communities and how local communities adapted to them.