Rural America is economically, socially, culturally, geographically, and demographically diverse. This multidimensional diversity presents complex challenges and unique opportunities related to delivering health care and improving health outcomes and health equity in rural communities.


To explore issues related to population health in rural America, the Roundtable on Population Health Improvement of the Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a public virtual workshop, "Population Health in Rural America in 2020" on June 24-25, 2020. The workshop planning committee was composed of rural health experts representing public health, health care, and tribal health. Presentations and discussions focused on rural America in context, rural health vital signs, rural health care in action,assessment and implementation strategies for improving the health and health equity in rural populations, and rural health policy.This Proceedings of a Workshop summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
1 Introduction
2 Rural America in Context
3 Rural Health Vital Signs
4 Rural Health Care in Action
5 Assessment and Implementation Strategies for Improving the Health of Rural Populations
6 Rural Health Policy
Appendix A: Speaker and Planning Committee Member Biosketches
Appendix B: Workshop Agenda
Appendix C: References