rural

5Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LGBTQ

Why Some LGBTQ Americans Prefer Rural Life To Urban ‘Gayborhoods’

Pop portrayals of LGBTQ Americans tend to feature urban gay life, from Ru Paul’s “Drag Race” and “Queer Eye” and “Pose.” But not all gay people live in cities. Demographers estimate that 15% to 20% of the United States’ total LGBTQ population – between 2.9 million and 3.8 million people – live in rural areas. These millions of understudied LGBTQ residents of rural America are the subject of my latest academic research project. Since 2015 I have conducted interviews with 40 rural LGBTQ people and analyzed various survey data sets to understand the rural gay experience. My study results, now under peer review for publication in an academic journal, found that many LGBTQ people in rural areas view their sexual identity substantially differently from their urban counterparts – and question ...

What Doctors Are Facing, In Their Own Words – Rural Hospitals Are Under Siege From COVID-19

20Nov

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19

What Doctors Are Facing, In Their Own Words – Rural Hospitals Are Under Siege From COVID-19

It’s difficult to put into words how hard COVID-19 is hitting rural America’s hospitals. North Dakota has so many cases, it’s allowing asymptomatic COVID-19-positive nurses to continue caring for patients to keep the hospitals staffed. Iowa and South Dakota have teetered on the edge of running out of hospital capacity. Yet in many communities, the initial cooperation and goodwill seen early in the pandemic have given way to COVID-19 fatigue and anger, making it hard to implement and enforce public health measures, like wearing face masks, that can reduce the disease’s spread. Rural health care systems entered the pandemic in already precarious financial positions. Over the years, shifting demographics, declining revenue and increasing operating expenses have made it harder for rural hosp...

Resentment Over COVID-19 Shutdowns Is Colliding With Rising Numbers In Rural America

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Resentment Over COVID-19 Shutdowns Is Colliding With Rising Numbers In Rural America

As COVID-19 spreads through rural America, new infection numbers are rising to peaks not seen during this pandemic and pushing hospitals to their limits. Many towns are experiencing their first major outbreaks, but that doesn’t mean rural communities had previously been spared the devastating impacts of the pandemic. Infection rates in rural and frontier communities ebbed and flowed during the first seven months, often showing up in pockets linked to meat packing plants, nursing homes or prisons. Even if they had no cases, many rural areas were under statewide public health orders that left businesses closed and events canceled. And that has become part of the problem today. The early compassionate and cohesive community responses to COVID-19 quickly gave way to growing anger and complia...

Rural Health Cooperatives Are Innovating But Are Challenged By Connectivity And Social Distancing

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

Rural Health Cooperatives Are Innovating But Are Challenged By Connectivity And Social Distancing

Rural areas are seeing some of the fastest spread of the COVID-19 in the U.S., taxing already stressed rural health care systems. Researchers Tanisa Adimu and Amanda Phillips Martinez head the Community Health Systems Development team of the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University, providing and evaluating technical assistance to rural health care providers and organizations around the country. Over the past months, they surveyed around 120 rural health care providers about the challenges they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they are adapting to meet those challenges. Tanisa Adimu and Amanda Philips Martinez talk about the challenges rural health providers are facing. New ways to get health data There has been a drop in the number of patients making in-person vi...

COVID-19 lockdowns expose the digital have-nots in rural areas – here’s which policies can get them connected

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, POLITICS

COVID-19 lockdowns expose the digital have-nots in rural areas – here’s which policies can get them connected

The current public health emergency has shown just how critical adequate and affordable broadband infrastructure is for communities and individuals trying to work, access health care and attempt to teach kids from home. Yet over one-fifth of rural Americans lack access to broadband, while some estimates suggest that figure could be much higher. The problem has spurred many state governments to take an active role in trying to connect more rural communities to high-speed internet, whether it’s by incentivizing providers to serve rural areas or creating dedicated offices aimed at helping more people get online. As part of our ongoing research on how broadband access affects economic development, we conducted a study that examined which of these state policies are actually working. Why bro...