WIC Helps Moms and Kids Eat. But Finding What You Need Isn't Always Easy
Discusses the federal food benefit commonly known as WIC and challenges in offering and accessing WIC-approved items. Highlights challenges for both vendors and recipients including inventory regulations and transportation issues. WIC-approved stores have decreased, particularly in rural areas. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - January 5, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

Growing New Mexico Maternity Care Deserts Bring Long Drives, Increased Worry
Highlights access to maternal healthcare challenges in rural New Mexico. Notes facility closures, patient volume, and reimbursement rates as contributors to the lack of access. Discusses telehealth as a potential for increasing access to care. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - January 5, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

From 'No Resources' to a 'Model Program': NM's Behavioral Health Services Tailored to Rural Needs
Highlights a program addressing the lack of behavioral health and wrap-around services for those in or recently released from New Mexico jails, primarily in rural counties. Discusses the rise in substance abuse related arrests. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - January 3, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

New and Upgraded Health Care Facilities for Native Americans Open in Arizona
Highlights new and improved healthcare facilities available for Native American populations around Arizona. Discusses the health disparities Native Americans experience as well as the workforce shortages that help contribute to those disparities. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - January 1, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

As Gun Violence Increases, a Lack of Trauma Care in Rural America Puts Millions at Risk
Highlights specialized trauma training for rural healthcare providers who can offer stabilizing healthcare for residents needing higher levels of care in far away healthcare facilities. Discusses the rise in gun injuries and outcome disparities for rural and urban patients, noting that mass casualty events and smaller staff sizes in particular can overwhelm healthcare facilities. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 29, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

Child Care Gaps in Rural America Threaten to Undercut Small Communities
Discusses child care shortages in in rural areas, particularly when compared to urban areas. Notes the positive outcomes for children associated with quality child care as well as the impact on workforce participation. Discusses both state and federal funding measures aiming to increase child care options. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 27, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

With Pandemic Funding Expired, Child Care Providers Seek Solutions to Shortages and Sticker Shock
Describes the efforts of a rural community in Iowa to address childcare shortages by combining funding from grants, business contributions, and a capital campaign. The funding supports incentives for home-based childcare providers, assistance to expand openings at existing daycare centers, and financial support to open a new center. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 26, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

AHA Announces Recipients of 2023 Rural Hospital Leadership Team Award
Announces the winner of the Rural Hospital Leadership Team Award from the American Hospital Association, Queen's North Hawai'i Community Hospital. The award will be presented in February at the annual AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference. Also highlights 3 finalists for the award from hospitals in Alaska, Iowa, and Missouri. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 20, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

Spending Fights, Supply Chain Delays Slow Mobile Health Boom
Discusses increases in mobile health clinics across the country as a result of COVID-19 era funding and restrictions. Describes coming federal policy changes for funding mobile clinics. Highlights uses of mobile clinics across the country including reaching rural Amish communities and responding to disaster sites. Discusses challenges including supply chain and workforce issues. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 20, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

'These People Were Never Given the Chance to Catch Up': Inside the Diabetes Belt of Rural Mississippi
Discusses diabetes care access in rural Mississippi. Discusses medication shortages, screenings, risks for pregnant women, and disparate impacts on Black residents. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 20, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

How Black Rural Americans Navigate Internet Issues
Describes the impact of limited access to broadband in the rural South for Black residents and work by communities and local residents to increase access. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 20, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

As Nearby Maternal Care Dwindles, Tribal Clinics Build It Up
Describes efforts to build maternal care services in two clinics on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. One is run by Indian Health Service and the other is administered by the Northern Arapaho tribe. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 20, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

More Funding for Harm Reduction Programs in Rural Maine
MaineHealth, a nonprofit health system, received $1.2 million in federal funding for a statewide overdose- and infection-prevention initiative. Project DHARMA – Distribution of Harm Reduction Access in Rural Maine Areas – is a collaboration with community-based organizations, including syringe services programs. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 20, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

Can Family Doctors Deliver Rural America from Its Maternal Health Crisis?
Highlights the use of obstetrics trained family physicians to fill maternal healthcare gaps in rural America. Discusses funding for rural residency training programs, shortages of primary care physicians, distance to maternal care, closures of labor and delivery departments, and more. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 18, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news

Persistent Wildfire Smoke Is Eroding Rural America's Mental Health
Describes the impact of wildfire smoke on mental health, primarily from lost wages and fewer social events. Notes that rural communities are more likely to have jobs that work primarily outdoors and recreation-based businesses, so the impact may be more widely felt. Discusses rural suicide rates, inadequate housing, and access to mental healthcare. (Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center)
Source: News stories via the Rural Assistance Center - December 18, 2023 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news