Southwest Rural Health Research Center
The Southwest Rural Health Research Center (SRHRC) is nationally recognized and funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. The center was established to address the needs of rural and underserved populations across Texas and the nation by bringing together a unique combination of faculty expertise in health policy, chronic disease, health economics, health law, and epidemiology and biostatistics.
Rural Healthy People 2030
Current Center Projects
Southwest Rural Health Research Center's Current Projects
Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice Laws and their Effect on Pediatric ACSC-Related Emergency Department Visits
Aims to identify trends and predictors of ACSCs among patients in urban and rural settings, comparing states where nurse practitioners have full practice authority under the state board of nursing with states that do not.
Exploring Substance Use Disorder Treatment in Rural Communities: Access, Utilization, and Perceived Barriers
Will explore how treatment access, perceived barriers, and beliefs about treatment effectiveness interact to shape utilization patterns among urban and rural populations, with the objective of identifying key areas for intervention and policy improvement.
Examining the Relationship between 911 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) Closures and Rural-Urban Disparities in Ambulance Response Times
Evaluate the impact of 911 PSAP closures on response times within affected service areas and assess rural–urban disparities in response times following these closures
Identifying and Exploring the Settings That Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants Are Practicing in as Well as Trends in Specialization in These Groups
There is evidence that nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) are branching into various specialties such as psychiatric, oncology, and pediatrics, but a contemporary understanding of how these specialties are represented in rural settings is missing, especially in light of evolving state scope of practice laws in the U.S. Researchers will use National Provider Identifier registry data to assess trends in specialty and settings and Medicare provider utilization and payment data to explore whether there have been significant changes in the number of clinician types billing for procedures. These findings will inform the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy on areas where the use of NPs and PAs can be enhanced.
The Rural Elderly Population: Demographics, Economic Status,Health Status, and Insurance Enrollment
The U.S. population is aging, with rural areas having a higher proportion of elderly residents compared to urban ones. Project investigators will conduct a descriptive study to describe the demographics, economic status, health status, and insurance enrollment of the rural elderly population using data from nationally representative sources.
"Older, Sicker, Poorer": A Scoping Review of the Literature That Contributes to This Narrative on Rural Americans
Researchers have long noted the disproportionate disease and mortality burden borne by residents of rural areas of the U.S., as well as disproportionate economic opportunities to develop wealth. Moreover, researchers have highlighted rural youth migration citing factors that push residents away from the communities in which they were raised. The project team will identify and summarize the literature on the rural youth exodus, the disproportionate burden of disease in rural areas, and variations in wealth opportunities for rural Americans. Our findings will provide the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy with a comprehensive scoping review they can utilize for policy development and advocacy.
Assessing the Clinical and Financial Impact of Community Health Workers in Rural America
The public health field has increasingly used the social determinants of health framework to understand health access and outcomes. The use of community health workers (CHWs) has emerged as a potential model for helping to ensure that patient needs are met. Research assessing the impact that CHWs are having has often focused on a single site, hospital system, or state. By synthesizing these studies into a comprehensive scoping review, this project will allow for policymakers to better understand the extent to which CHWs improve health status and improve the bottom line for health systems in rural communities across the United States.
Evaluating the Impact and Progress of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network Program
HRSA established the Rural Public Health Workforce Training network Program to expand health service capacity by supporting public health job development, training, and placement in rural and tribal communities. In 2022, HRSA awarded over $47 million in funding through this program. This project will examine how grantees implemented the program and assess the impact of their program activities.
Other SRHRC Programs
Texas Cancer Screening, Training, Education, and Prevention (C-STEP)
The Texas Cancer Screening, Training, Education and Prevention Program, or Texas C-STEP , conducted through the Texas A&M Health Family Care , provides free cancer screenings and certain advanced diagnostics, to uninsured, underserved, and low-income Texans.
Texas C-STEP is f unded by the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas , these grants provide much needed access to cervical, breast, colorectal, and liver cancer screenings, expands access to care, and provides training opportunities for resident physicians and nursing students.
Certified community health workers provide culturally-appropriate outreach, education and navigation services for these grants.