Rural Sociology Commons^™

The Nuclear Legacy In Appalachia, Michele Morrone, Harold Perkins

Journal of Appalachian Health

Nestled in the rolling hills of Appalachia Ohio is a reminder of the role that the region played in winning the Cold War. For more than 40 years in rural Pike County, the 3,700-acre Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS), or the “A-Plant” as the locals refer to it, enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons. While the facility produced nuclear fuel for national security, it simultaneously exposed plant workers to chemicals and radiation and discharged pollution into the surrounding community. The A-Plant is now being demolished and the site repurposed. However, the site continues to affect the community as, for …

Appalachian Environmental Health Literacy: Building Knowledge And Skills To Protect Health, Anna G. Hoover, Annie Koempel, W. Jay Christian, Kimberly I. Tumlin, Kelly G. Pennell, Steven Evans, Malissa Mcalister, Lindell E. Ormsbee, Dawn Brewer

Journal of Appalachian Health

Environmental health literacy (EHL) is an emerging, multidisciplinary field that promotes understanding of how environmental exposures can affect human health. After discussing the regional relevance of environmental health knowledge and skills, this article describes three ongoing Appalachian projects that are focused on measuring and building EHL.

Development And Early Outcomes Of The Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative, North Carolina, Tim Marema, Erin Bouldin

Journal of Appalachian Health

Addressing adverse childhood experiences has become a public health imperative, and communities across the United States are working to develop and implement programs and policies to both prevent childhood trauma and support adults who experienced trauma as children. Here we describe the development of the Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative (WCCI) in Watauga, County, North Carolina.

Access To Autism Spectrum Disorder Services For Rural Appalachian Citizens, Angela Scarpa, Laura S. Jensen, Denis Gracanin, Sharon L. Ramey, Angela V. Dahiya, L. Maria Ingram, Jordan Albright, Alyssa J. Gatto, Jen P. Scott, Lisa Ruble

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: Low-resource rural communities face significant challenges regarding availability and adequacy of evidence-based services.

Purposes: With respect to accessing evidence-based services for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), this brief report summarizes needs of rural citizens in the South-Central Appalachian region, an area notable for persistent health disparities.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data during focus groups with 33 service providers and 15 caregivers of children with ASD in rural southwest Virginia.

Results: Results supported the barriers of availability and affordability of ASD services in this region, especially relating to the need for more ASD-trained providers, …

Introduction To The New “Early Reports Of Innovation” Section, Erin Bouldin, Tim Marema

Journal of Appalachian Health

The Journal of Appalachian Health is introducing a new section this issue. While the journal is centralizing some of the best research and commentary on Appalachian health, the editorial team felt that practice-focused groups, organizations, and agencies may not be fully represented in the publication.

Introducing The L.A.U.N.C.H. Collaborative, F. Douglas Scutchfield Md, Kevin Patrick

Journal of Appalachian Health

The L.A.U.N.C.H. Collaborative: Linking & Amplifying User-Centered Networks through Connected Health: A Demonstration of Broadband-Enabled Connected Health and Community-Based Co-Design brings together a group of organizations that are eager to use Appalachian Kentucky as a site for the development of a project aimed at creating an environment that addresses two of the nation’s major concerns about cancer. First, individuals who live in rural and remote areas are more likely to die of cancer than those who live in urban or suburban settings. And second, geographic obstacles hinder their ability to access evidence-based strategies that can prevent cancer or treat it …

Support For Rural Practice: Female Physicians And The Life–Career Interface, Kimberly Stutzman, Ruth Ray Karpen, Pragna Naidoo, Sarah E. Toevs, Amanda Weidner, Ed Baker, David Schmitz

Public and Population Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: The need for family physicians in rural areas across the USA and Canada is a longstanding issue that has been well documented. Since family physicians constitute the largest population of rural practitioners, the problem has been exacerbated by a sharp decline in medical students’ interest in the field of family medicine and the aging of the current rural workforce. Previous research has shown that female physicians in rural areas need strong support networks to maintain a healthy work–life balance. The purpose of this study was to better understand the types of support they need and how they find it, …

Revisiting Rural Crime: The Contributions Of Labor Markets And Interdependency, Kristina J. Thompson

Dissertations

Although rural communities – which are home to nearly 20 percent of the U.S. – have experienced disruptive labor market restructuring, few studies examine how such events influence rural crime. Moreover, general methodological approaches to rural crime treat rural places as isolated and unaffected by the broader labor market conditions around them, despite a growing body of sociological literature which suggests that urban and rural communities have varying degrees of interdependence. Drawing from urban crime theories emphasizing the importance of place and systemic relations, this dissertation explores how shifting labor market conditions and extra-local labor market opportunities influenced crime in …

Youth And Young Adults These Days: Perceptions Of Community Resources And Factors Associated With Rural Community Engagement, Wilson Majee, Adaobi Anakwe, Karien Jooste

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Young people’s decisions to engage or disengage in community activities can be attributed to their perceptions of community resources and opportunities. This study examined South African rural young adults’ perceptions of their future communities and influences on engaging in health promoting activities and community leadership. Survey data were collected from 58 youth and 52 young adults affiliated with key community organizations. Correlational analysis examined perceptions of community resources and participation in community leadership. Perceptions about the future of their communities differed by age, educational attainment, employment status, and number of years spent in the community and were strongly correlated with …

Invisible Poverty: Awareness, Attitudes, And Action, Joseph W. Johnson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

In small-town rural America, we do not tend to see poverty. Poverty is relatively invisible, especially among our youth and children. Invisible Poverty explores the issues, challenges, stereotypes, and causes of small-town rural poverty while presenting possible solutions. Drawing from Alvin Luedke, Craig Van Gelder, Alan Roxburgh, Patrick Keifert, Cynthia Duncan, and Shannon Jung, Invisible Poverty presents a missional theology of accompaniment seeking justice and avoiding shame. In an effort to understand the complexity of rural poverty, Invisible Poverty asks; How might Action Research interventions affect awareness, attitudes, and actions of the congregation concerning the issues of poverty?

Parallel Precarity: A Comparison Of U.S. And Canadian Agricultural Guest Worker Programs, Anelyse M. Weilere, Kathleen Sexsmith, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern

Food Studies - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Why Sharp, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Student Health and Risk Prevention Surveillance System (SHARP)

The Value of SHARP: The administrations of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), Youth Tobacco Survey (YTS), and Nebraska Risk and Protective Factor Student Survey (NRPFSS) were combined in 2010 to make up the Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) Surveillance System. SHARP is the umbrella encompassing the ONLY three student health surveys endorsed by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) and Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NDHHS).

The Power of Data

How the SHARP data is used by stakeholders

Why schools In Your Area Should Participate

Perceptions Of Production And Animal Agriculture In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2020 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz, Jason L. Weigle

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans have farming or ranching history in their family. In fact, one-half of rural Nebraskans are one generation or less removed from the farm or ranch. Rural Nebraskans’ connection to agriculture has not changed much in the last ten years.

Most rural Nebraskans view their economic well-being as being dependent on both production agriculture in general and animal agriculture in particular. Furthermore, most rural Nebraskans say the economic well-being of their community or county is very much dependent on the economic success of both production agriculture and animal agriculture.

Most rural Nebraskans are supportive of new livestock development …

Well-Being In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 25 Years Of Trends, 2020 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz, Jason L. Weigle

Nebraska Rural Poll

By many different measures, rural Nebraskans are positive about their community. Many rural Nebraskans rate their community favorably on its social dimensions. Most rural Nebraskans say it would be difficult to leave their community and have a positive attachment to their community. Most rural Nebraskans disagree that their community is powerless to control its future.

Rural Nebraskans’ views about the change in their community have generally been positive. The proportion believing their community has changed for the better during the past year has usually been greater than the proportion believing it has changed for the worse, especially during the past …

Consumer Horticulture Benefits Housing And Residential Areas, Robert Polomski, Ellen Bauske, Terri James, Natalie Bumgarner, Katie Walberg

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

Horticulture and plants can be a benefit to those who live in housing and residential areas by:

• Providing aesthetically pleasing and valuable landscapes that increase property value

• Providing landscape plants that improve the physical conditions and improve energy efficiency

• Improving the quality of life in residential neighborhoods

Nasis Winter 2020: Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey Questionnaire, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

No abstract provided.

Nasis 2020: Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey Questionnaire, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

No abstract provided.

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (Nasis) 2020 Methodology Report, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

No abstract provided.

Why Sharp (Summary Sheet For Schools), Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Student Health and Risk Prevention Surveillance System (SHARP)

The Value of SHARP

The Power of Data: Your school can receive school and local level results from the NRPFSS, along with state wide results from the YRBS and YTS. The comparison of local and state data is what makes the SHARP surveys so significant. The results of these surveys will not only affect your school and your students, but your community as a whole. The data collected are used by community, regional, and state level groups, including the NDE and NDHHS, to identify areas needing improvement and to track the effectiveness of their efforts. This information also helps schools …

Understanding South Dakota Farmers’ Intentions To And Adoption Of Conservation Practices: An Examination Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Edem Avemegah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conservation agriculture practice is a sustainable farming method based on three principle: crop diversification, minimal soil disturbance or movement and permanent or semi-permanent of soil cover. Government and stakeholders within the agricultural sector in the United States are promoting conservation farming practices but limited voluntary adoption still exists among producers at the farm level. This research study investigated the factors that influence the adoption of conservation practices among producers in the eastern and central parts of South Dakota (SD). A modified theory of planned behavior (TPB) is used as a framework alongside socioeconomic and demographic indicators to understand farmers’ current …