The Bill Lane Center for the American West and Stanford Medicine are pleased to co-issue this white paper on telehealth in the rural American West. The paper builds upon the Lane Center’s earlier work from our Rural West Initiative, as well as ongoing research by our undergraduate teams who have been exploring connections between environment and health in the American West.
Dr. Phil Polakoff joins the Lane Center to discuss the recent initiatives led by his organization, Healthier Rural America. Healthier Rural America believes that progress is possible when rural communitites come together to rewrite prevailing narratives to reflect new ones of resilience and renewal; the rural American renaissance is coming.
This document proposes creating a National Institute for Rural Health within the US Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services so as to centralize and streamline federal support for rural health and healthcare. Learn more at www.healthierruralamerica.org.
The COVID-19 pandemic started slowly in the rural West, but more recently many rural regions have been overwhelmed. Understanding health risks, working with state officials to develop rules to slow the spread, and enforcing those rules have all evolved.
This report uses three rural areas -- Española, NM; Orangeburg, SC; and Ord, NE -- as case studies to understand how, in spite of their vulnerabilities, rural communities can still achieve health and prosperity. According to the authors, key strengths exhibited by these rural American cities are: close knit communities, a strong work ethic, self-sufficiency and resilience.
This paper argues that there is a need for a renaissance in rural America, and outlines considerations for moving forward from poverty/illness to prosperity/health. Learn more at www.healthierruralamerica.org.
America’s health care system is not working for all Americans, especially those who live in rural areas. We believe there are two core issues that have kept us stuck in a rut.
One of these issues is summed up by Bill Gross, founder of Idealab: “You can try to persuade people to care about issues, but the only way you’re going to get huge change is if you save them money.”
It’s time to build a healthier America, especially in the rural parts of our nation.
For too long, leaders at all levels of government have undervalued and under supported rural communities and the health of their citizens. It’s time to address those many disparities, the lack of quality support and the lack of equity.
This stategic action plan comes in advance of the Healthier Rural America Summit on September 15. This document proposes a framework to foster sustainable, resilient innovation and change with identified, supported and targeted initiatives leading to positive results. The document is being shared in a non-partisan manner to key stakeholders at the federal, state and local levels.
Two decades into the 21st century, in the midst of a pandemic that has forced people to work and go to school remotely, broadband connections fail to reach millions of Americans. Communities in many areas are struggling with this handicap, especially in the rural West. Our panel will examine what we know and don’t know about the severity of the problem and what it will take to fix it.
