Rural Healthy People 2010, 2020, and Beyond: The Need Goes On

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: Over the last decade Rural Healthy People 2010 (RHP2010) has provided policymakers, rural providers, and rural communities with an invaluable resource for planning and policy-making. Sustaining the Rural Healthy People project in collaboration with the broader Healthy People 2020 effort will provide an important infrastructure for improving rural health. Towards that end we disseminated a national web-based survey to rural stakeholders seeking identification of the top rural health priorities over the next decade. STUDY DESIGN: A national web-based survey for rural stakeholders was designed, piloted, and then distributed nationally using web sites of rural organizations representing rural policy leaders, rural providers, and rural community program planners. POPULATION STUDIED: The national web-based survey elicited 688 responses from policy planners, providers, community program leaders and local leaders. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Respondents to the Rural Healthy People 2020 survey identified rural health priorities for the next decade, with access to quality health services as the number one (1) national rural health priority(N=555), followed by diabetes (423), mental health and mental disorders (403), nutrition and weight status (382), heart disease and stroke (358), substance abuse (311), older (aging) adults (301), cancer (275), maternal, infant and child health (275) and educational and community based programs (264). Most useful methods and tools for meeting the needs of rural stakeholders include rural toolkits for grants and funding (267), rural models for practice (215) and directory of rural specialists, researchers and consultants (173). Respondents also identified over 170 models for practice for further examination and dissemination nationally.