About
This page provides rural health resources to support research, surveillance, program planning, and workforce development. Public health and healthcare professionals, policymakers, educators, and others can access vital information, training, and tools to enhance their work in rural communities.
Rural Public Health Training
CDC's Office of Rural Health has developed specialized rural public health training to help equip public health professionals, university students, and others with the knowledge and skills necessary to work with rural communities.
These free, self-paced modules are available online via CDC TRAIN. The rural-focused lessons can enhance understanding of rural public health systems, enrich culturally appropriate communications and engagement, and strengthen local capacity in using evidence-based public health interventions.
Rural Health Science Tip Sheets
Tips for Using Rural-Urban Variables: Considerations for Public Health Researchers
This document offers guidance on including rural-urban differences in public health studies and provides tips for creating strong studies that reflect the diversity of rural communities. Public health researchers can use it as a reference for designing studies, analyzing data, reporting results, and working with rural communities.
Looking Within – Analyzing Demographics Within Rural Populations: Considerations for Public Health Researchers
This document helps public health researchers understand when and how to break down rural data by groups such as race, income, age, gender, location, and disability. Doing so reveals important health differences within rural areas, which is key for creating better health programs and using resources wisely.
Additional Resources
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services/Office of Rural Health Transformation (CMS/ORHT)
ORHT, located within the CMS Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, oversees the Rural Health Transformation Program — a $50 billion initiative to strengthen rural health systems and expand sustainable access to care nationwide.
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP)
FORHP advises the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services about health care issues affecting rural communities.
Rural Health Information (RHI) Hub
The RHIhub is a clearinghouse of information on rural health issues. It also provides current resources on rural health care and population health including toolkits and models for programs that work in rural communities.
Rural Health Mapping Tool
The Rural Health Mapping Tool integrates several measures of health and prosperity into a single tool, providing a more detailed picture of the well-being of rural communities. With this new tool, users can observe the associations between the prosperity of a county and a range of health and other factors, including the leading causes of death, sociodemographic factors, and physical environment.
Rural Health Research Gateway
The Rural Health Research Gateway provides access to research conducted by the Rural Health Research Centers, including rural health research products and journal articles.