Karen B. Pearson, MLIS, MA

Phone: 207.780.4553
Fax: 207.228.8138
Email: karen.pearson@maine.edu
X: @Karen_B_Pearson
LinkedIn: Karen on LinkedIn

University of Southern Maine
PO Box 9300
34 Bedford Street
Portland, ME 04104-9300

Completed Projects - (1)

Database for Rural Health Research in Progress
This searchable database of current rural health services research and policy analysis includes all ORHP-funded studies as well as research funded by other federal agencies, major private foundations and other sources.
Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Topic: Health services

Opioid Use Among Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
Policy Brief
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 01/2025
This study used the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) to address the lack of literature on the rural-urban difference in the use and misuse of prescription opioids. Over years 2010-2017, rural community and facility-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries were more likely to receive opioid prescriptions than their urban counterparts.

Ambulance Deserts: Geographic Disparities in the Provision of Ambulance Services
Chartbook
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 05/2023
Access to timely ambulance service is an essential part of the emergency medical system. Yet ambulance access varies widely with significant gaps across the country. This research identifies places and people that are more than 25 minutes from an ambulance station, also called an ambulance desert.

Implementation of Telehealth Services in Rural Schools: A Qualitative Assessment
Journal Article
Rural Telehealth Research Center
Date: 11/2021
This study explores facilitators and barriers to implementation of telehealth programs in rural schools and identifies strategies for successful implementation to inform future school-based telehealth initiatives. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 50 key personnel involved in the School-Based Telehealth Network Grant Program.
Voices From the Field: A Qualitative Study of the Challenges and Promising Practices of Rural Public Health in Addressing HIV and Hepatitis C
Journal Article
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 05/2021
Interviewing public health professionals from six rural states, researchers examined the challenges involving HIV, HCV, and serving rural people who inject drugs and determined strategies to address those challenges.
Capacity of Rural Counties to Address an HIV or Hepatitis C Outbreak
Policy Brief
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 02/2021
This study examines rural-urban differences in state and local health department capacity to prevent, prepare for, and respond to an HIV or hepatitis C outbreak.

Process of Identifying Measures and Data Elements for the HRSA School-Based Telehealth Network Grant Program
Policy Brief
Rural Telehealth Research Center
Date: 06/2020
This brief details work to identify measures and develop data elements appropriate to school-based telehealth, create an Excel-based tool, and systematically collect data from grantees in the Health Resources and Services Administration's School-Based Telehealth Network Grant Program.
Measure and Data Element Identification for the HRSA Evidence-Based Tele-Behavioral Health Network Program and the HRSA Substance Abuse Treatment Telehealth Network Grant Program
Policy Brief
Rural Telehealth Research Center
Date: 04/2020
This brief details work to identify measures and develop data elements appropriate to tele-behavioral health, create an Excel-based tool, and collect data from grantees in the Health Resources and Services Administration's Evidence-Based Tele-Behavioral Health Network Grant Program and Substance Abuse Treatment Telehealth Network Grant Program.

Health Information Exchange: A Strategy for Improving Access for Rural Veterans in the Maine Flex Rural Veterans Health Access Program
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 05/2016
This paper reports on the design and implementation of a first-in-the-nation project to expand rural veterans' access to healthcare by establishing a bi-directional connection between Maine's statewide health information exchange (HIE) and Veterans Administration facilities and centers.

Rural Health Research in Progress in the Rural Health Research Centers Program, 10th Edition
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 02/2006
This book provides policy makers with a concise source of rural health services research underway in the Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy and provides a context for legislation that affects rural health services and populations.