Survey of rural Iowa communities will gauge pandemic response

Residents in 70 rural Iowa communities soon will receive surveys that will help to inform state and federal officials as they orchestrate the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey, orchestrated by researchers at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, will cover topics ranging from the availability of health care services to the reliability of high-speed internet to the economic stresses placed on a community by the pandemic.

‘Hidden’ data exacerbates rural public health inequities

While some of the data rural public health officials need to better serve their communities and guide public health policy and spending exists, that data is hard to access and use. University of Washington researchers conducted qualitative surveys of rural public health leaders in four Northwest states to find the barriers they face to getting and using data. The results of their research have been published in JAMIA and the researchers are establishing an accessible database with the tools rural officials need to understand and share\ the data.