Everyone has the right to a healthy life, but equity and access to health care can be more difficult to achieve in rural areas.
Approximately 20% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, but only 9% of U.S. physicians work in rural areas. According to the CDC, people in rural areas are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, injuries, respiratory diseases, and stroke than those in urban areas.
At Dartmouth Health, the Center for the Advancement of Rural Health Equity (CARHE) and the Center for Rural Health Care Delivery Sciences (funded by the Center for Biomedical Research Excellence, also known as COBRE) are developing solutions to these rural challenges. We are working to find out.
Improve delivery and outcomes
The Rural Health Care Delivery Science Center was established to: Develop an essential group of clinician-researchers focused on health care research in rural areas.
The center, made possible by a five-year, $11.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health as part of the COBRE program, is creating a repository of research resources. We work with community-aligned partners to leverage these resources. Shaping the way rural health care is understood and delivered, providing researchers with guidance and strategic direction from medical and scientific experts.
The center is supported by two scientific cores: 1) Statistics, Informatics, and Qualitative Methods, and 2) Community Engagement and Outreach.
Examples of ongoing research include:
Understand and address barriers to remote cardiac monitoring. Remote heart monitoring relies on wireless connectivity, which can be difficult to access in rural areas (Project leader: Emily Zeitler, MD, MHS).Measuring the provision of low-value pediatric services to determine disparities in rural and urban care and possible solutions (Project leader: Samantha House, DO, MHSDetermine why COPD patients living in rural areas have poorer health compared to patients living in non-rural areas (Project leader: Laura Paulin, MD, MHS).
Ensuring health equity
Launched in 2022, CAHRE's mission is to ensure people in rural areas have the opportunity to live healthy lives.
According to the CAHRE website, “Rural health equity means that all people living in rural areas can live the healthiest lives possible. Healthy lives are free from discrimination and injustice. It involves living a life without treatment.”
CAHRE focuses on rural health equity and takes a community-driven approach to problem-solving. It provides a unique network that works across research, healthcare, education, and community services, connecting all four groups.
The project's partnerships are extensive and innovative, sharing a common goal of working collaboratively with the wider community.
Examples include:
Work with recovery community leaders to establish recovery community organizations. Develops meal and nutrition support programs in collaboration with federally qualified health centers. Help local libraries strengthen their early childhood education programs.
Under the oversight of a diverse leadership council, CARHE is committed to meaningful co-creation and community engagement, adhering to the values of commitment, action, respect, and humility.
Improve your distribution and give your community feedback
These two centers work together. They support researchers focused on improving health service delivery in rural areas and bringing the voices of communities to researchers. Partnerships with communities through research activities help improve the relevance and benefit of research to rural populations.
This article first appeared in the October 2024 edition of Connections and was modified for the web.
