Addressing Access Barriers in Rural America: A Mixed-Methods Study of Wisconsin's Family Resource Centers

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Rural Health
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Family Resource Centers (FRCs) are place-based initiatives with potential to mitigate rural health access barriers.
• Empirical evidence on the effectiveness of FRCs in addressing rural disparities is limited.
• Rural communities often face unique challenges in accessing health and social services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze whether and how Family Resource Centers (FRCs) address rural access barriers.
• To investigate the impact of FRCs on health outcomes in rural populations.
• To provide empirical evidence on FRC effectiveness in diverse settings.

Main Methods:

• Convergent parallel mixed-methods design utilizing quantitative and qualitative data.
• Analysis of Child Opportunity Index data to compare rural and nonrural areas.
• Surveys from 646 rural and nonrural families and interviews with 20 FRC participants/staff.

Main Results:

• Statewide disparities between rural and nonrural areas were observed.
• Qualitative data revealed rural resource gaps and transportation barriers, with FRCs acting as facilitators.
• Rural families more frequently received resource referrals, while nonrural families engaged in programming; FRC participation correlated with increased resource connections.

Conclusions:

• Family Resource Centers (FRCs) effectively address social determinants impacting rural communities.
• FRCs play a crucial role in improving health equity for rural populations.
• Findings support FRCs as valuable public health interventions and inform policy development.