Health promotion and disease prevention

Completed Projects

Listed by project completion date. You can also view these projects alphabetically.

2023

• Diabetes Management in Urban and Rural Areas of the U.S.
  This project used the IBM MarketScan database to examine differences in type 2 diabetes prevalence and monitoring for a commercially insured sample. It also employed definitions from the Health Effectiveness Data and Information Set guidelines for comprehensive diabetes care to determine if rural residents are more or less likely to meet recommended standards for type 2 diabetes monitoring and control.
  Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
  Topics: Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Diabetes, Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Healthcare access, Private health insurance, Quality
  

2022

• Longitudinal Trends in Community Mental Health Center and Federally Qualified Health Center Supply in Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan Counties
  This study described how the supply of community mental health centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers has changed over time in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan counties nationally.
  Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
  Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Hospitals and clinics, Mental and behavioral health, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Substance use and treatment
  

2021

• Do Rural Breast and Colorectal Cancer Patients Present at More Advanced Disease Stages than Their Urban Counterparts?
  Access to recommended cancer screening is more difficult for rural residents than their urban counterparts. This study used the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) data to examine the extent to which rural residents present at more advanced disease stages for breast and colorectal cancer diagnosis than urban residents.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Cancer, Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services
  
• Predictors and Barriers to Achieving Immunization in Rural and Urban Areas
  Prenatal and timely childhood immunizations offer the optimal strategy for preventing severe morbidity and mortality due to vaccine-preventable disease. This project evaluated possible gaps in immunization services for pregnant women and their infants in rural areas as compared to urban areas.
  Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Children and adolescents, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Maternal health
  

2020

• Medicare Beneficiaries' Access to Preventive Services: Diabetes Self-Management Training, Medical Nutrition Therapy, and Health and Behavior Assessment and Intervention
  Medicare offers preventive services focused on self-management through several programs: Diabetes Self-Management Training, Medical Nutrition Therapy, and Health and Behavior Assessment and Intervention.
  Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
  Topics: Diabetes, Health promotion and disease prevention, Medicare, Obesity
  
• Risky Substance Use Among Adolescents and Adults in Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan Counties
  Little research has examined the prevalence of risky substance use (alcohol and drugs) among nonmetropolitan adolescents and adults relative to their metropolitan counterparts. Using nationally representative data, this project shed new light on the prevalence and correlates of risky substance use that could inform prevention strategies.
  Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
  Topics: American Indians and Alaska Natives, Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Mental and behavioral health, Minority health, Substance use and treatment
  

2019

• Preventive Health Service Use Among Rural Residents
  Examining differences in rural-urban preventive health service use is critical to assessing the impact of health benefit design changes on access to preventive services and their use among rural and urban populations. We used National Health Institute Survey data to compare receipt of preventive health services among rural and urban adults.
  Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Women
  

2018

• Addressing Rural Social Isolation as a Health and Mortality Risk Factor
  This project aimed to describe rural/urban differences in the prevalence of social isolation, as well as to identify challenges and strategies related to addressing rural social isolation in order to inform policy-making.
  Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Health promotion and disease prevention
  
• Barriers and Disparities Associated with Pneumococcal Immunization Among Rural Elderly Adults
  Our Center conducted analyses of national survey data and unique insurance claims data sets to identify how rurality of residence and key demographic, social, and economic characteristics serve as barriers or facilitators to vaccination against pneumococcal disease, which is relatively common although largely preventable among older Americans.
  Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
  Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention
  

2016

• Colorectal Cancer Screening Bypass Behavior and Outcomes
  Studies have shown that increased distance to the closest endoscopy provider is associated with lower screening utilization among Medicare enrollees. The purpose of this study is to expand beyond the Medicare population to examine the travel behaviors of the entire population, comparing urban vs. rural residents in obtaining endoscopies for colorectal cancer screening.
  Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
  Topics: Cancer, Health promotion and disease prevention, Medicare
  

2013

• Racial and Rural Differences in Cervical Cancer Screening Practices
  The purpose of this study is to describe and compare racial and rural differences in cervical cancer screening practices using data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. The findings will inform policies to increase appropriate access to quality cancer-preventive services.
  Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
  Topics: Cancer, Health promotion and disease prevention, Minority health, Women
  

2009

• Preventive Care: Supports and Barriers to Best Practices for a National Sample of Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
  Preventive health screenings are generally underutilized in the United States by the elderly, especially those residing in rural areas. Using an integrative approach, including secondary data analysis of a large nationally representative dataset (Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey) and complementary qualitative interviews with rural elders, the proposed research study aims for a more complete understanding of the factors influencing use of these practices.
  Research center: FORHP-funded Individual Grantees
  Topics: Aging, Health promotion and disease prevention
  
• Rural Environmental Hazards Inventory and Associated Health Outcomes
  This study will create a national inventory of potential environmental hazards for rural populations. Population health outcomes such as CDC mortality statistics will be examined to determine if poor health outcomes are related to greater exposures to potential hazards.
  Research center: West Virginia Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Environmental and agricultural health, Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health, Transportation
  

2008

• Financing Rural Public Health Activities in Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
  This project describes the federal-state funding streams for selected local public health activities in the area of chronic disease prevention and health promotion, and assesses potential barriers to program implementation in less populated, local areas of a state.
  Research center: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
  Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Health promotion and disease prevention, Healthcare financing, Public health
  

2007

• Breast, Cervical, Colorectal, and Prostate Cancer Screening in Rural America: Does Proximity to a Metropolitan Area Matter?
  The study compared cancer screening rates among various levels of rural versus urban Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System respondents and among white respondents versus those from racial/ethnic minority groups.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Cancer, Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Minority health
  
• Role of English Proficiency and Area of Residence in the Use of Adult Preventive Health Services Among Latino Subgroups
  This project will examine whether and how language and residence influence the utilization of preventive health services by Latino adults.
  Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
  Topics: Health promotion and disease prevention, Hispanics, Minority health
  

2003

• Chronic Disease Management in Rural Areas
  Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Health promotion and disease prevention
  
• Rural Healthy People 2010: A Companion Document for Rural Areas
  This project identified and examined approximately one dozen high priority objectives for rural health as a subset of the hundreds of objectives defined within Healthy People 2010 including, Access to Quality Health Services (Insurance, Primary Care, and EMS); Cancer; Diabetes; Heart Disease and Stroke; Maternal, Infant, and Child Health; Mental Health and Mental Disorders; Nutrition and Overweight Concerns; Oral Health; Substance Abuse; and Tobacco Use.
  Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Cancer, Diabetes, Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health
  
• Rural Healthy People 2010: Expansion Project
  The purpose of this expansion project is to build on the findings of Rural Health People 2010 by concentrating on the 13th and 14th highest ranking rural priority areas (Immunization and Infection Diseases; Injury and Violence Prevention) and their associated models for practice.
  Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health, Violence and abuse
  
• Unhealthy Lifestyle Behaviors Among Minority Group Members: A National Rural and Urban Study
  Research center: Rural and Minority Health Research Center
  Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health promotion and disease prevention, Minority health
  

2002

• Evaluating Colonias and the Use of Promatoras on the U.S.-Mexico Border
  Research center: Southwest Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health promotion and disease prevention, Public health