|

The Landscape of Rural Health Research

 

Original Presentation Date: 7/23/2020

Tags: health / research / rural / Rural PREP

Overview

The Rural Health Research Center Program is the only Federal research program entirely dedicated to producing policy-relevant research on health care and population health in rural areas. To strengthen the dissemination of research results, the Rural Health Research Gateway launched in early 2006. The Gateway is a “one stop shop” for the Research Centers providing easy access to projects funded by FORHP and summaries of research in progress. Data collection and analysis is essential to understanding the challenges in rural communities, how those communities are impacted by policy and setting policy for the future. For this reason, the work of the Rural Health Research Centers informs that of FORHP’s policy team and vice versa. The presenters share examples of how that relationship effectually works.

Following this webinar, participants will be able to:

  1. Access the Rural Health Research Gateway and the resources located there for exploring and conducting rural health research
  2. Articulate at least three goals of research in rural health
  3. Describe the relationship between policy, research, and FORHP with examples of when research has influenced policy and federal programs and when policy has influenced research
  4. Join the Rural PREP community of practice in rural primary care health professions education and training

Presenters

Jennifer Burges

Jennifer Burges, MPH, CPH
Research Coordinator, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration

Jennifer Burges is the Research Coordinator for the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) within the Health Resources and Services Administration. Jennifer manages the Office’s Rural Health Research Centers, Telehealth Focused Rural Health Research Center, Rural Policy Analysis, Raid Response, and Rural Health Research Gateway programs. The Rural Health Research Center Program is the only Federal research program entirely dedicated to producing policy-relevant research on health care and population health in rural areas. Each Research Center develops a portfolio of several research projects per year in conjunction with input from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy which Jennifer coordinates. Jennifer also serves on the Maternal Morbidity and Mortality and Intimate Partner Violence workgroups within HRSA.

Marcia M. Ward, PhD
Professor, Director, Center for Health Policy and Research, University of Iowa

Marcia M. Ward, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. Dr. Ward is Director of the Center for Health Policy and Research at the University of Iowa. She also directs the HRSA-funded Rural Telehealth Research Center. Her 35 years of research experience focus on health services research, rural healthcare delivery, and health outcomes. Dr. Ward has been the PI of numerous grants funded by AHRQ, HRSA, NIH, the State of California, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is the author of over 100 peer review publications and 40 technical reports and has been funded on over 70 grants and contracts during her research career. Prior to joining the University of Iowa in 1997, Dr. Ward co-led the Health Outcomes Program at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) where she served as the Associate Director of the Center for Health Sciences. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from the Ohio State University and is a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.