# Telemedicine, Caregivers, and Rural Population Health

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE · 2024 · $208,594

## Abstract

Project Summary
This project seeks to harness big data in electronic health records to study the impact of increasing access to
telemedicine on the health and wellbeing of rural caregivers. Life in rural communities comes with additional
barriers to daily activities. Family members may travel hours to make weekly or monthly purchases from big
box super stores. Travel time eats away at time for other activities, both paid work and family related. Farm-
related family work is often time- and labor-intensive, budgets are often stretched, and household production
activities usually require more time. Rural families have less access to restaurants, food preparation programs,
food delivery services, and the like. They are less likely to outsource household production tasks like cooking,
cleaning, washing clothes, growing food, childcare, and elder care. The compilation of this reality puts
disproportionate stress on caregivers in rural communities. Rural caregivers, predominantly women, are
vulnerable to exhaustion, increased health issues related to stress, and missing their own preventative care
screenings due to the increased burden of care within their households. This was especially true during
COVID-19. Using data from the Northeast and Southern regions of the country, the project develops a proof of
concept for a future R01 grant to study the dynamics of increasing telemedicine in rural communities in the
Midwest. The focus of this project is to document increased access to telemedicine and other remote
healthcare options for caregivers during COVID-19 and its effect on the health and wellbeing of caretakers in
rural communities. Technological advancements of the past half century have accelerated the use of big data
methods to understand major health, economic, and social trends, and the project harnesses electronic health
records from major health systems linked to the 2020 Census and American Community Survey (ACS) to
analyze differential changes in health service take up and overall health and wellbeing of caregivers and
related family members. The project will evaluate what public health policies that can effectively be
implemented to support increased access in rural communities, and which types of telemedicine prove
particularly helpful in enhancing and increasing the health and wellbeing of caregivers in rural communities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10770248
- **Project number:** 1P20GM152280-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE
- **Principal Investigator:** Misty Heggeness
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $208,594
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-04-15 → 2029-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10770248

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10770248, Telemedicine, Caregivers, and Rural Population Health (1P20GM152280-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10770248. Licensed CC0.

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