"Caregiving arrangements are a Rubik’s Cube for every family. The only antidote to vulnerability is adaptability. And I can’t stress communication highly enough, before the boiling point rises and blows the lid off."
 

Jacki Lyden is a former war reporter. Now she's reporting from the front lines of caregiving, as she takes care of her mother at home in Wisconsin. (Source: The Washington Post; Image: StockSnap on Pixabay) 

On Friday, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced legislation designed to relieve rural telecommunications providers of costly regulatory requirements. 

 The Access to Capital Creates Economic Strength and Supports (ACCESS) Rural America Act would exempt some rural telecommunications companies from public reporting requirements to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The legislation would increase the required number of investors a company needs to trigger the required reporting. 

“Unfortunately, rural telecom companies are getting hit with disclosure costs that were never intended for them, creating new challenges to delivering broadband access throughout Wisconsin,” Senator Baldwin said in a statement. 

The legislation has received support from various rural telecommunications businesses. Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of The Rural Broadband Association, and William C. Esbeck, Executive Director of the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association, have also expressed support. (Image: Martinelle on Pixabay) 

The Wisconsin Office of Rural Health applauds the innovation, quality of care, and dedication of health professionals and volunteers in Wisconsin’s rural communities during Rural Health Day, a state and national celebration that recognizes the efforts of those serving the health needs of over 60 million people across the nation. In honor of Rural Health Day, our office has recognized three winners for our inaugural Outstanding Contribution to Rural Health Awards—one to a hospital working for a system of whole health, another to a nurse giving back to her community, and a third to a county market working to address food insecurity.

Rural Health Day is an annual day of recognition for those who serve the vital health needs of nearly 60 million people residing in America’s rural communities. 
 

Today, an organization in Rhinelander has been selected by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) to be one of seventy national Community Stars because of its work to advance rural health in Forest County. 
 

The "Ties That Bind Us" organization is cited as a champion of community collaboration efforts. It's worked to raise educational awareness about cancer, held anti-smoking campaigns, offered free lung cancer screenings in the community, and hosted events to promote healthy lifestyles. The group is also lauded for its initiatives to improve the lives of those struggling with the disease. In one initiative, the organization purchased two robots that enabled children in cancer treatment to attend school using remote technology. 
 

Read more to learn how Forest County Ties That Bind Us is being nationally recognized as a Community Star. 

In 2019, more health insurers are participating in insurance marketplace exchanges established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a new analysis of insurers from 2014 to 2019. The average state will have four insurers in 2019, but Wisconsin is one of three states in the nation to have more than ten insurers. Every county in the nation had at least one insurer in 2018. (Source and Image: Kaiser Family Foundation) 

A new policy brief looks at the scope of cancer mortality in America, and suggests that geography plays a role in the distribution of cancer mortality in the United States. The report finds lung, prostate, and colon cancer rates are higher in rural areas than urban areas, and the rates of breast and cervical cancer are higher in urban than rural. Region also plays a crucial role. Data indicate that the South has higher mortality rates for many common cancers, the West sees lower cancer rates for most types, and mortality rates in the Midwest are somewhere in the middle. (Source: Southwest Rural Health Research Center; Image: Drew Hays on Unsplash)

A survey administered to Wisconsin high schoolers finds that the percentage of students who currently drink alcohol, currently use marijuana, or are currently sexually active has decreased over the past ten years. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, administered to public high school students in Wisconsin every two years, asks for youth attitudes toward drugs, sex, mental health, tobacco use, eating habits, and physical activity. It's part of a national effort led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor health risk behaviors among youth.

The percentage of students who said they currently drank alcohol has decreased by 18.5 percent, from 48.9 percent of respondents in 2017 to 30.4 percent in 2007. In the same period, the percentage who said they currently used marijuana decreased from 20.3 to 16 percent, and the number of students who were currently sexually active decreased by eight percent, from 32.9 to 24.9 percent. 

There has been almost no change in the percentage of students who had attempted suicide. Slightly more students reported that they had made a plan about how they would attempt suicide, increasing by nearly five percent over a decade. 

One statistic that's skyrocketed over the past decade? The percent of students who report they play video or computer games or used a computer three or more hours per day. That number's more than doubled, from 19.8% to 40.3%. 

Fifteen counties in Wisconsin have received a $20,000 grant to enhance mental health crisis intervention services, according to a press release sent out by the Department of Health Services today. Each county's project is designed to address local needs, ranging from staff training to new electronic systems to collect and share information on clients. 

Rural residents are less likely than their urban counterparts to use telehealth services, according to a new report. Telehealth allows individuals to participate more actively in their health care, as well as receive more timely and convenient monitoring of ongoing conditions. It's particularly useful for individuals in rural areas, who may face long travel distances to the nearest health facility. 

However, those who could utilize telehealth the most are actually using it less. According to a new report from the USDA, rural individuals were less likely than urban residents to take part in fundamental telehealth activities, ranging from health research, to activities associated with contacting providers and maintaining records, to health monitoring via the use of remote medical devices. (Source and Image: U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service)