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Rural Health
Research Gateway

Disabilities

Research Products & Journal Articles

Browse the full list of research publications on this topic completed by 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.

2023

  • Advancing the Age-Friendly Movement in Rural Communities
    Journal Article
    University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 02/2023
    The research team looked at the role of Aging Life Care Managers® to help support the age-friendly movement in rural areas. The team explored ways in which Aging Life Care Managers® could advocate for the needs and interests of their clients, help them access care and support, and involve rural communities in the age-friendly movement.
  • Who Will Care for Rural Older Adults? Measuring the Direct Care Workforce in Rural Areas (journal article)
    Journal Article
    University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 02/2023
    In this manuscript, the research team used data from the 2021 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics dataset to calculate the ratio of direct care workers relative to the population of older adults (ages 65+) across rural and urban areas in the US.

2022

2020

  • Acuity Differences Among Newly Admitted Older Residents in Rural and Urban Nursing Homes
    Journal Article
    Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 11/2020
    This study found newly admitted residents of rural nursing homes were more likely to have cognitive issues/problem behaviors than those in urban facilities. Yet rural facilities admitted less complex older (age 75+) residents than urban, raising questions about the rural long-term services and supports system and capacity of rural nursing homes.

2018

  • Beyond Clinical Complexity: Nonmedical Barriers to Nursing Home Care for Rural Residents
    Journal Article
    University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 02/2018
    Using data from interviews with rural hospital discharge planners, we identified four themes around nonmedical barriers to rural nursing home placement with particular salience in rural areas: financial issues, transportation, nursing home availability and infrastructure, and timeliness. We also identified policy and programmatic interventions.

2017

  • Barriers to Nursing Home Care for Nonelderly Rural Residents
    Journal Article
    University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 12/2017
    This study uses data from 23 semi-structured interviews with rural hospital discharge planners in five states to identify specific barriers to finding nursing home care for nonelderly rural residents. We found three primary themes—payment status, fit, and medical complexity—as well as two minor themes—caregivers and bureaucratic processes.

2007

  • Rural/Urban Differences in Barriers to and Burden of Care for Children With Special Health Care Needs
    Journal Article
    North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Date: 2007
    Examines the barriers and difficulties experienced by rural families of children with special healthcare needs in caring for their children. Covers rural-urban differences in types of providers used, reasons for unmet healthcare needs, insurance and financial difficulties encountered, and the family burden of providing the child's medical care.

2006

2005

  • The Effects of Rural Residence and Other Social Vulnerabilities on Subjective Measures of Unmet Need
    Journal Article
    North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Date: 2005
    Are self-reports of unmet need a biased measure of access to healthcare? We examined the relationship between rural residence and perceived need for physician services and the likelihood of reporting a need for routine preventive care and/or specialty care using data from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.