Two related and collaborative pilot studies are addressing rural health disparities with a focus on family processes and developmental outcomes. The Rural Connect project includes: 1) conducting community outreach with surveys and focus groups in rural communities to address potential barriers to research participation and health care access for rural families; and 2) building a team of scholars and physicians to obtain external funding that will facilitate remote assessment for family focused substance use research and treatment by training researchers and clinicians in the use of innovative strategies. The Pennsylvania Birth Cohort Study uses a cohort sequential design to recruit and retain rural families from pregnancy to child age of 3 years to examine family processes and child outcomes among rural families, while oversampling families of color. These pilot projects reflect a collaboration between Drs. Downs, Eiden, and Neiderhiser and colleagues at Hershey Medical Center and Geisinger Health System.
Development, Risk, and Resilience Lab
