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People who live in rural areas of the United States are more likely than urban residents to die prematurely from chronic diseases. CDC works to improve rural health through funding, research, surveillance, and telehealth.
One in five people in the U.S. live in rural areas. These rural residents are more likely than urban residents to die prematurely from five of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, stroke, unintentional injuries, and chronic lower respiratory disease. Several factors contribute to these health disparities:
The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) works to improve the health of rural communities through funding, research, surveillance, and telehealth.
NCCDPHP funds and guides states, universities, territories, and tribes to reach rural populations with proven interventions and innovative projects.
For example, CDC’s High Obesity Program (HOP) funds universities to work with community extension services to increase access to healthier foods and safe places for physical activity. These efforts focus on counties with an adult obesity rate of 40% or more, and mostly rural communities across 15 states in the South and Midwest. During 2018–2023, HOP reached:
Learn more about NCCDPHP’s funded programs on health equity.
Studying and reporting on rural health disparities can lead to new approaches to address those disparities. CDC publications on rural and urban health differences have covered topics such as arthritis symptoms, chronic pain, and oral health.
Learn about chronic disease research on advancing health equity and eliminating disparities, which covers issues that affect rural area.
NCCDPHP’s surveillance systems measure how many Americans have chronic diseases or chronic disease risk factors. Some of these systems report data down to the county level, which helps rural communities understand and respond to their health needs. For example:
See the full list of CDC’s chronic disease surveillance systems.
Telehealth—the delivery of health care through technology such as mobile phones or computers—can help reduce barriers to care for people who live far away from health care services and specialists, who have time or access restrictions, or who have transportation or mobility issues.
Telehealth can be an effective approach for communication and counseling. It’s also a good way for doctors to monitor their patients’ chronic conditions, like heart or lung disease. Better monitoring can improve patients’ quality of life and reduce hospital admissions and deaths from chronic diseases.
CDC is supporting telehealth projects across the country to give rural residents better access to chronic disease prevention and management programs, as well as to specialist care.
For example, the Vision Health Initiative’s Glaucoma Detection Program funds three academic institutions to help reach populations with high rates of vision loss. The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Columbia University, and the University of Michigan developed the Screening and Intervention for Glaucoma and eye Health through Telemedicine (SIGHT) studies. These studies work to improve glaucoma screening and management among populations at high risk for glaucoma. The SIGHT studies address barriers such as lack of health insurance, poverty, inadequate transportation, and trouble finding eye care specialists.
Read more about telehealth interventions to improve chronic disease.
The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion advances healthy equity through six areas of action.
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