Rural homelessness in the United States is an understudied phenomenon.Among those studies which do address the issue, there exists no uniform or consistent definition for rural homelessness.In this review of the literature, we look at rural homelessness and consolidate the literature into four main groups based on the definitions currently in use.We recommend a comprehensive definition for rural homelessness that looks at this phenomenon on a spectrum of needs, populations, and periodicity.We further recommend that current homeless count methodology be improved by using a more detailed survey of homeless situations, not only in the rural United States, but in urban areas as well.
This article focuses on the black community in Topeka during the first half of the twentieth century. Using archival sources such as the black press, letters from educators and administrators to state officials and newspapers, and correspondence from black teachers in Topeka, I examine the reasons some African American teachers, administrators, and families were hesitant to desegregate the public school system. Additional sources include the Kansas Historical Society's archival holdings, including governors' files and court cases, as well as the papers of Mamie Williams, an African American teacher. Some black Topekans feared desegregation because they believed it would harm students physically and emotionally. They also believed desegregation discouraged racial pride and forced children into environments where they were "merely tolerated." Many black teachers emphasized the unique perspective they brought to their classrooms, stating that they were better able to empathize with their students. Desegregation spelled the possibility of demotion for black teachers, yet if they voiced concerns about potential job loss and desegregation, they risked being seen as hypocrites in the fight for racial equality. With their schools, teachers, and livelihoods at stake, blacks in Topeka initially resisted the efforts of white school boards and lawyers to take their schools away from them. In 1954, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled "in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place." The legacy of desegregation continues to affect black students, communities, and the field of education over half a century later.
Self-management plays a vital role in improving health outcomes and reducing costs in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and associated risk factors. Based on existing studies, rural residents with CVD and/or risk factors show low engagement in self-management behaviors. Due to low participation in behavioral intervention trials, the most promising mechanism to promote self-management among rural populations is unknown. In turn, the purpose of this article is to review the evidence that supports strategies to recruit and retain rural patients to participate in behavioral intervention trials aimed to promote self-management of CVD and its risk factors. This review is expected to assist researchers in identifying effective solutions to overcome barriers in the recruitment and retention processes when conducting intervention research studies on the self-management of CVD in rural communities.
ObjectivesThe National Children's Study (NCS) is a longitudinal observational study that will examine the effects of genetics and environment on the health and development of children in the United States. The NCS is in a Vanguard, or pilot phase, so it is important to determine the feasibility, acceptability and cost of different data collection methods. The purpose of this study was to determine whether demographic characteristics differed in self-administered questionnaire (SAQ) completion rates, and to examine response rates when a $2 incentive was included with the mailed questionnaire.MethodsSubjects for the study (~500) were being followed by a local call center and were mailed SAQs. Women who did not complete their last telephone event were eligible. Women were randomized to receive a $2 bill incentive with their SAQ (approximately 250 women in each group).ResultsApproximately 450 women comprised the final sample. In the incentive group, 35% of SAQs were returned, which was significantly higher than the 27% returned in the non-incentive group (p<0.001). No significant differences in completion rates based on demographic characteristics were seen, except in divorced women. The final cost per completed SAQ was $12.51 in the incentive group compared to $7.57 for the non-incentive group.ConclusionsAdding a $2 bill as an incentive significantly increased response rates of hard-to-reach rural women completing mailed questionnaires about pregnancy information. Future research should focus on different incentive amounts and types and how they influence response rates.
Purpose: To examine the reasons fewer students and residents are entering general surgery, to educate residents about the realities of rural general surgery based on the experience of three general surgeons in central Nebraska, and to suggest a strategy for individual general surgeons and for residency programs to maintain the rural surgical workforce.Methods: A systematic literature review of surveys, review articles, and editorials through PUBMED was performed.Relevant studies were included in a review of the current literature on the rural general surgery workforce, general surgery residency, fellowship training, and rural surgery education.Findings: There is an insufficient supply of general surgeons in many parts of the country, particularly in rural settings.More general surgery residents are entering into subspecialty fellowship training and fewer are practicing general surgery than in the past.Residents may have inaccurate perceptions about rural general surgery practice.Those residency programs with dedicated rural and community surgery rotations have had more success in producing rural general surgeons.Conclusions: Although specialization in surgery has many positive effects, maintenance of a general surgical workforce in rural America is crucial to the health care of many citizens.Increasing the numbers of mentoring and training programs could provide medical students and general surgery residents with more educational opportunities that may lead to increased interest in rural surgery.
Biosecurity programs can be discussed from many perspectives. In many cases, biosecurity may be regulated state or federal programs with law enforcement - the goals of which are to protect the "national" livestock resources and protect consumer interests. Alternatively, these programs may be producer level programs that are voluntarily established for protection of personal livestock investments. A core principle in the definition of "biosecurity" is the desire to prevent the introduction of disease. When infectious disease is present on a farm or in a region, the term "biocontainment" may be used to describe programs aimed at confinement of the diseases to that farm or region such that it does not spread to other farms. Veterinarians are intimately involved in the maintenance of health and in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. When confronting an ongoing disease diagnosis and treatment situation, biocontainment can be readily implemented because the effects are apparent. However, when working to maintain a healthy herd, biosecurity practices may be more challenging to enforce because the threat is neither apparent nor seems eminent. An additional perspective on biosecurity relates to zoonotic diseases. Animal handlers and veterinarians are at risk for disease transmission from the animal to humans as part of their normal daily work habits. This chronic and persistent exposure may lead to complacency regarding risk if the people involved have never knowingly suffered disease. Thus, biosecurity can be a challenging concept for farm managers and veterinarians to apply in field settings.
Veterinarians are important members of rural communities and provide valuable services to both community members and the food production systems in these areas. The population of new veterinary graduates entering rural, mixed animal practice is decreasing and several studies have concluded that a shortage of veterinarians in this area is apparent. The Veterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas (VTPRK) was created to address the educational and financial needs of students entering practice in rural Kansas. The program provides a forgivable loan for a select group of students during veterinary school and specific courses to help prepare these students for success in rural practice.
Economic development in Indian Country has a long history of various programs intended to provide economic opportunities for reservation residents.Many of these programs have failed due in part to development perspectives that subjugated the people to -what works in one place, will work here‖ theory of development.In order to help create sustainable economic opportunities, the Heartland Center for Leadership Development in conjunction with United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) and support from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Denver Region, conducted a series of case studies focusing on promising programs in Indian Country that were meeting with success.These case studies reflect the positive economic conditions in order to build on them and provide a framework for other communities to follow.* Tribal college * Size of reservation (small) * Northwest Area Foundation partnership * Adoption of uniform commercial code * Has their own hospital with local Indian doctors * Has their own buffalo herd * Geographic location separation of powers * Attraction of outside investment (tax incentives) * Existing economic engines, Turtle Mountain Manufacturing * Brought in houses from the Air Force Base * Encouraging people to further their education * Build an Enterprise for business incubation * Build a
For the past few years, a collaborative of nonprofit organizations in Nebraska has been evolving a model for community intervention and self-help.The program, called Hometown Competitiveness, has emerged as a new model for interdisciplinary rural development.Combining outside technical assistance with local capacity building, the program features four distinct strategies for entrepreneurship identification and support, leadership training, youth engagement and the creation of local charitable assets.The HTC collaborative is one of 6 programs nationally that received awards from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Entrepreneurship System Development Initiative.The upcoming paper will offer descriptions of the assessment and engagement tools that have been developed by the HTC team as well as a look at how the collaborative developed and has changed over time.
Rural communities, in the United States and internationally, invest in their community resources in a number of diverse ways to achieve community economic development (CED). These investments yield diverse impacts and outputs. In 2003, the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) was contacted by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to conduct a review of community and economic development (CED) efforts in rural communities with populations of less than 10,000 people. Together these organizations reviewed rural communities both domestically and abroad to see how external financial investments impact CED. The overriding purpose was to learn how the Foundation could make better use of limited funds to elicit positive outcomes for rural communities in West Virginia. Since rural communities in general have different kinds of assets, the Benedum Foundation and NCRCRD agreed the study should focus on ways these rural communities can use external financial investments to build upon social, cultural, human, political, economic, and environmental assets or capital to improve their overall well-being. Ultimately, the Benedum Foundation wanted to know how financial investments in rural communities could be maximized to bring about the greatest positive CED outcomes. Thus, all 57 communities reviewed in this study used external funding to engage in successful CED. The communities were located in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States; former British colonies were chosen so that the communities could be compared more easily. The methodology for our research involved the Community Capitals Framework and the measurement of community capitals (natural, human, social, cultural, political, financial, and built) throughout the CED process in each community. It is our belief that when strong consideration is given to how to invest well in a community’s capitals (assets) and when CED efforts are participatory and inclusive, CED proves to have greater, more far-reaching impacts on a community.
