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Rural Health
Research Gateway

Workforce

Current Projects

  • Access to and Provision of Child and Youth Behavioral Health Services in the Rural and Urban U.S.
    The need for behavioral health treatment for youth has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the availability of youth behavioral health providers in rural areas. This study will investigate who provides behavioral health services to youth, how the workforce is distributed, and gaps in service availability.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Allied health professionals, Children and adolescents, Health services, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Physician assistants, Physicians, Substance use and treatment, Workforce
  • Access to and Use of Midwifery Care for Rural Residents
    Rural obstetric unit closures and health care workforce shortages limit access to care for pregnant rural residents. Our goal is to describe the midwifery workforce in rural communities and at rural hospitals that provide obstetric care, and to assess rural-urban differences in use of midwifery care at the time of childbirth.
    Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Maternal health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Women, Workforce
  • Assessing Access to Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Rural Communities Influenced by the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP)
    This project will use national prescription claims data to compare access to buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder in rural counties with and without Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) funding and urban counties. An accurate understanding of access to buprenorphine treatment is essential for determining the influence of RCORP funding on a critical strategy for curbing the opioid epidemic.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Substance use and treatment, Workforce
  • Barriers and Facilitators to Providing Rural Clinical Training for Health Professions Students and Residents
    Scarce rural clinical training sites are the top barrier preventing medical schools, residencies, and nurse practitioner and physician assistant education programs, among other health professional training programs, from providing rural training to their students. This study aims to describe the barriers to offering rural clinical training and the potential solutions for establishing and sustaining interdisciplinary rural clinical training.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Allied health professionals, Healthcare access, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physician assistants, Physicians, Workforce
  • Changes in Buprenorphine Prescribing Following the Elimination of the Drug Enforcement Administration X Waiver Requirement
    The Drug Enforcement Administration requirement for an X waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder was lifted in January 2023. This study aims to describe if and how this policy change has impacted the prescribing practices of clinicians and medication treatment access for patients with opioid use disorder.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Legislation and regulation, Mental and behavioral health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Physician assistants, Physicians, Substance use and treatment, Workforce
  • Dentist Supply, Dental Care Utilization, and Oral Health Among Rural and Urban U.S. Residents: Exploring Changes in the Past 15 Years
    This project will describe the national supply of the rural and urban dental workforce and investigate whether rural adults, compared to urban adults, report lower dental care utilization, higher prevalence of dental disease or both. This study will also look at whether disparities in oral health care and supply have changed over the past 15 years.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Allied health professionals, Health services, Healthcare access, Oral health, Workforce
  • Disparities in Family Physician Burnout Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    High levels of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic have been documented among health professionals, particularly women and persons from underrepresented groups. This study examines how burnout has changed from 2019 through 2021 among family physicians as well as variation by rural/urban geography, other sociodemographics, and practice characteristics to identify physicians most in need of interventions to foster resilience and alleviate burnout.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Mental and behavioral health, Physicians, Workforce
  • Evaluating the Variation in Rural and Urban Hospital Wages and Wage Index Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic
    The primary purpose of the wage index is to address the differences in labor costs that hospitals experience based on their geographical location.
    Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Topics: Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Workforce
  • Examining Rural Population Characteristics and Access to Care: A Study of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs)
    This project examined Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs), analyzing geographic disparities in provider shortages across rural and urban settings. Findings highlight variations in access to primary care, mental health, and dental services, informing federal programs that allocate resources to improve health care access.
    Research center: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Oral health, Workforce
  • Identifying High-Need Counties for Resource Planning
    The primary aim of this project is to use data examining health care infrastructure, chronic disease prevalence, and the socioeconomic environment to create a metric for classifying rural counties based on needs and resources.
    Research center: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Diabetes, Healthcare access, Maternal health, Obesity, Oral health, Physicians, Poverty, Public health, Rural statistics and demographics, Social determinants of health, Uninsured and underinsured, Workforce
  • Rural and Urban Medical School Programs that Demonstrate a Commitment to Producing Rural Physicians
    Studies of individual medical schools have identified characteristics associated with working in rural areas, but little is known about which organizational factors are the most significant predictors of rural practice. This project will examine characteristics of medical schools' missions and organizational commitments to promote physician practice in rural communities.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Workforce
  • Rural-Urban Differences in Addressable Drivers of Staff Turnover in Skilled Nursing Facilities
    The aim of the proposed study is to assess facility-level turnover rates for total nursing and registered nursing personnel across levels of rurality and by region looking at factors such as staffing ratios that can be managed by facility administrators.
    Research center: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Hospitals and clinics, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Public health, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Workforce
  • Specialist Physicians in the Rural and Urban U.S.: Supply, Distribution, and Access
    This project will describe the geographic distribution (rural/urban, regional, and intra-rural) of specialist physicians who care for patients experiencing conditions that account for the top four leading causes of rural mortality. It will also explore how patients in rural communities that lack these specialists obtain needed care.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Cancer, Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Frontier health, Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Social determinants of health, Telehealth, Workforce
  • The Emerging Landscape of Rural Family Medicine Residency Training: Defining Models and Assessing Their Value
    Rural residency training options for family physicians are growing, as is the evidence for rural training in promoting rural practice choice. This study aims to use a new classification of six residency program types to describe and quantify programs and positions by type and compare relative effectiveness in producing rural physicians.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Physicians, Workforce
  • The Nursing Home and Skilled Nursing Facility Workforce in the Rural and Urban U.S.
    This project will describe the rural and urban distribution of nursing and non-nursing staff in U.S. long-term care facilities and investigate how the workforce varies by facility and community characteristics.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Aging, Healthcare access, Long-term care, Workforce
  • Treatment, Provider, and Cost Differences for Rural and Urban Patients with Opioid Use Disorder and Medicaid Insurance Across the U.S.
    This project will analyze Medicaid claims data to compare the treatment that rural and urban patients with opioid use disorder receive, documenting the workforce providing care, the distance that patients travel to receive care, and the cost of care. Findings from this study can be used to improve policies regarding opioid use disorder treatment.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Legislation and regulation, Medicaid and CHIP, Mental and behavioral health, Nurses and nurse practitioners, Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Physician assistants, Physicians, Substance use and treatment, Telehealth, Workforce
  • Understanding Changes in the Rural Marriage and Family Therapist and Mental Health Counselor Workforces Under New Medicare Reimbursement Policy
    Marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors are newly eligible as of January 1, 2024, for reimbursement to provide care for Medicare enrollees. This study will describe the change in these clinicians in rural vs. urban communities and seek to understand barriers and solutions to fully realize the benefits of this new reimbursed policy for rural populations.
    Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Allied health professionals, Medicare, Mental and behavioral health, Workforce
  • Work Settings, Education, and Intent to Leave Practice among Rural vs. Urban Nurses
    Using data from the 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey, this project will describe rural/urban differences in nurses' work settings, levels of education and licensure, demographic characteristics, income, and intention to retire or leave practice. Study findings could be applied to implement policies aimed at increasing nursing school output and attracting nurses to practice in rural areas.
    Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Topics: Nurses and nurse practitioners, Workforce