Introduction by Joanne Kenen

At Health Journalism 2019 in Baltimore, Rose Hoban, who founded and reports for North Carolina Health News, gave a presentation on rural health care that went way beyond statistics about shortages of doctors and hospital closures (though she, correctly, talked about that too.)

She introduced us to some community collaboratives and national initiatives that are taking fresh approaches to addressing both coverage and larger issues about health and wellbeing, including the socioeconomic factors that shape health and health outcomes.

In this useful and wide-ranging tip sheet, Hoban assembled many resources for AHCJ members who are covering rural health as well as social determinants. She opens by linking to an overview essay that challenges us to think more deeply about the assumptions and habits we bring to the health beat in an age of “intractable conflict.” She includes quite a bit of information about the Healthy Gorge Initiative in the Columbia Gorge region of Oregon, which has drawn national attention and kudos. Their leader presented at the conference.

Hoban has many general resources for rural health (some of which we’ve highlighted on our Health Policy Resources pages or in prior blog posts, and some of which we’ll add). You’ll note several are based in North Carolina, but they have national data and tools (and helpful advice on how to use them). At the bottom are the PowerPoint presentations from her session in Baltimore. Dive in.

By Rose Hoban

“Complicating the Narratives” – This is a great read on thinking about getting deeper in your reporting.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize

It’s worth checking who RWJ honors annually, as there will often be good story leads here.

• Culture of Health Prize – general info and other winners
• Columbia Gorge – RWJ citation for the initiative presented at the conference (also see Lindberg presentation below)
• Healthy Gorge Initiative – Home page for the community initiative
• Gorge Grown Food Network Part of the initiative that addresses food security in the Columbia Gorge community
• Mid-Columbia Housing Authority Part of the initiative that addresses housing issues in the Columbia Gorge region
• Meyer Memorial Trust – Foundation that funds broader work in Oregon. This is a good example of how local and state-based foundations are driving many health initiatives at the state level. Look around your own state to see what might be there.

National resources

• Tamarack Institute for Community Impact – training for communities on poverty reduction strategies all over Canada. They work/ consult all over the country and have links to almost every province. Their strategies and initiatives are very interesting, might make for a good contrast/ compare story.
• Collective Impact Forum – part of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions

Rural health resources

• Rural Health Info Hub – Tons of information, including instructions on using the U.S. Census to find information about rural topics
• Center for Rural Strategies – This organization is the parent of the Daily Yonder that tells the story of rural America, including good reporting on health. We’ve  written about it before on Covering Health.
• Rural Advancement Foundation International – Focus on small farmers
• Farm Aid – Tons of resources for the farming community. Farmers actually really depend on Farm Aid. When a farmer is suicidal, s/he calls the number listed on their site and it rings in a local advocate’s office. E.g. RAFI (above) is where the phone rings if the farmer is calling from North Carolina.
• Wholesome Wave – National food security/ food access organization
• USDA Economic Research Service – Yeah, the people who were recently relocated to Kansas City. This office produces a lot of data/ analysis on the agricultural sector in the U.S. that’s used for planning at the local, state and national level.
• Rural America at a Glance, 2018 report – Generated by the ERS (above)
• Rural Health Research Gateway – A project of the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health and funded by HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. Plus they’re nice, and super helpful, people.
• North Carolina Rural Health Research Program – At the Sheps Center for Health Policy Research at UNC Chapel Hill. The program “draws on the experience of a wide variety of scholars and researchers, analysts, managers, and health service providers associated with the Center. NC RHRP seeks to address problems in rural health care delivery through basic research, policy-relevant analyses, geographic and graphical presentation of data, and the dissemination of information to organizations and individuals who can use the information for policy or administrative purposes to address complex social issues affecting rural populations.” They’re the people who have compiled the data on rural hospital closures, they whys and wherefores of each.
• The 21st Century Rural Hospital – A project of the Sheps Center.
• Rural Health Snapshot – Another project of the Sheps Center. Their site displays selected indicators of access to health care, health behavior/risk factors, and mortality rates, comparing rural to urban residents.
• National Rural Health Association – The main influence group in D.C., they’re the lobbyists/ advocates for rural hospitals particularly.
• National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health
• National Association of Community Health Centers
• Community Health Workers – If you want to know what’s happening at the community level, ask them!
• Community Health Worker Certification Requirements by State and State Certification programs:
• National Academy of State Health Programs – state community

Presentations from Health Journalism 2019 speakers

(Contact information below.)

• Maggie Elehwany, J.D., government affairs and policy vice president, National Rural Health Association
• Mark Holmes, Ph.D., director, North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
• Paul Lindberg, J.D., collective impact health specialist, partnership of United Way of the Columbia Gorge and Providence Hood River Hospital
• Robert Stiles, CEO, Central Ozarks Medical Center
• Moderator: Rose Hoban, R.N., M.P.H., editor, North Carolina Health News

Contacts:

Paul Lindberg
Hat Creek Consulting
Plindberg65@gmail.com
541-490-2340
www.gorgeimpact.com

Robert Stiles, CEO
Central Ozarks Medical Center
573-460-6030 office/573-480-3839 cell

PO Box 777, 304 W. Washington
Richland, MO 65556
rstiles@centralozarks.org

Mark Holmes
mark_holmes@unc.edu
ncrural@unc.edu
@ncrural

Maggie Elehwany
National Rural Health Association
MElehwany@nrharural.org

One other resource on rural hospital finances:

Michael Topchik,national leader
Chartis Center for Rural Health
Mtopchik@chartis.com
Office 207.518.6705/Cell 207.939.4618