Author: Kristi Ressel, MPH – Senior Research Analyst
IPP Senior Research Analyst Kristi Ressel presented at the American Public Health Association’s 150th Annual Meeting in Boston, MA on behalf of the research team working on the Health Resources Services Administration Continuing Medical Education and Physician Lifelong Learning grant project. The team is lead by Dr. Julie Kapp with the University of Missouri School of Medicine Department of Health Management and Informatics and includes Principal Investigator Dr. Kathleen Quinn with the University of Missouri School of Medicine Office of Rural Health, and IPP Graduate Research Assistants and Truman School of Government and Public Affairs PhD Candidates Beau Underwood, MPP MDiv and Ann Obadan, MPIA.
The first presentation on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 is a poster titled The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Among Rural US Children and Families: A Systematic Review outlines the results of a systematic review conducted in PubMed and Scopus. The objective of the review was to examine the scope of the empirical literature measuring the psychological effect of COVID-19 on US parents, families, and/or children in rural communities. Of the 250 articles identified by the research team, only 5 met the eligibility criteria. Further review of these articles found that urban residence indicated lower risk of perceived anxiety compared to rural (marginally significant findings) and data on rural participants showed increases in food insecurity and parent and psychological distress following school closures. The research team recommends future work include rigorous research that assesses the indirect impact of COVID-19 on rural areas for future guidance and decision-making.
The second presentation on Monday, November 7, 2022 is an presentation during the Strategies for Addressing Public Health in Rural Communities session hosted by the Community Health Planning and Policy Development special interest group. Ms. Ressel will be speaking on Characterizing the Care Coordination Landscape in Rural Missouri as part of a panel discussing health research for rural communities. The objective of the study was to characterize care coordination practices in rural Missouri that integrate social services with health care. The research team conducted an environmental scan of rural Missouri organizations implementing a multi-sector care coordination model that extends beyond medical care to include social services. The team then conducted structured interviews with leaders from a representative and diverse sample of the organizations. 16 interviews were conducted across 14 organizations that included Federally Qualified Health Centers, behavioral health organizations, statewide or networked entities, and hospitals. The team found that there are remaining opportunities for narrower adoption of care coordination definitions and wider adoption of care coordination standards in rural areas.
This research was conducted as part of the Health Resources Services Administration Medical Student Education Program – An Innovative Model to Increase Primary Care Physicians for Rural and Underserved Missouri (PI: Kathleen Quinn, PhD).
Questions on this project can be directed to Kristi Ressel at resselk@missouri.edu.