Validating the eHealth Literacy Scale in Rural Adolescents.

Purpose: Given that the recent eHealth literacy literature supports the properties of the 3-factor eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) model in samples with millennials, adults, and older adults, the appropriate next step is to establish whether the model can be reproduced in a rural adolescent sample. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the recent 3-factor model by Paige and associates with a sample of seventh-grade students.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included a subsample of students (n = 146) from 3 school districts in Appalachian Kentucky.

A case-control study of trace-element status and lung cancer in Appalachian Kentucky.

Appalachian Kentucky (App KY) leads the nation in lung cancer incidence and mortality. Trace elements, such as As, have been associated with lung cancers in other regions of the country and we hypothesized that a population-based study would reveal higher trace element concentrations in App KY individuals with cancer compared to controls. Using toenail and drinking water trace element concentrations, this study investigated a possible association between lung cancer incidence and trace-element exposure in residents of this region.

Reducing 30-day readmission rates in a high-risk population using a lay-health worker model in Appalachia Kentucky.

This exploratory study aimed to address the effectiveness of a lay-health worker (LHW) model in addressing social needs and readmissions of high-risk patients admitted in a rural community hospital. A quasi-experimental study design assessed implementation of a LHW model for assisting high-risk patients with their post-discharge social needs. Outcome measures included 30-day hospital readmissions rates during a 4-month baseline period compared with a 6-month post-implementation period.

Kentucky Homeplace Defeat Diabetes Screening Test: an analysis of rural Kentucky's challenge to overcome the growing diabetes epidemic.

The University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health original research note, "Kentucky Homeplace Defeat Diabetes Screening Test: An Analysis of Rural Kentucky's Challenge to Overcome the Growing Diabetes Epidemic," provides the results of a yearlong diabetes risk survey that included more than 3,000 participants in rural Kentucky. It is well known that diabetes poses serious health threats across our country. For various reasons, that is especially true in Kentucky, with rural Kentucky having the highest prevalence for the disease.