Injury Prevention Research Center

60% of U.S. counties are classified as completely rural or mostly rural.  In rural America, death rates are higher from motor vehicle crashes, suicide, drug overdoses, burns, drownings, and traumatic brain injury compared to urban areas.

There can be considerable variation in rural communities, including demographic, social, economic, and health system characteristics.

Our unique location in the middle of America influences our work. Iowa includes the spectrum of isolated rural to medium-sized cities. Since its establishment in 1991, the UI IPRC has contributed to the nation’s understanding of rural injury and violence including:  

• Farmer suicide 
• Firearm storage practices 
• Child passenger safety 
• Farm vehicle safety 
• Teen dating violence 
• Trauma care 
• ATV safety  
• Opioid overdose deaths 
• Interventions for rural populations related to trauma-informed care for children; opioid prescribing; teen driving; burn recovery; suicidal ideation; adolescent bullying; older adult falls prevention; and older adult disaster preparedness

• What is “rural” in IVP research?
• The rural effect on injuries
• Stricter lighting & markings may reduce farm crashes
• Rural injuries and violence at home during COVID-19
• Helping vulnerable rural residents prepare for disasters
• A spotlight on rural child injuries
• Staying safe on the farm
• Safer storage of guns to prevent child injuries and death
• ATV safety & youth: Q & A with Dr. Jennissen
• Youth suicide
• Car crashes: When teens are at fault
• UI Csomay Center: Improving safety for older Iowans
• Addressing violence and injury prevention in Indian country

• Trauma care for injured farmers often delayed by almost an hour compared with other rural workers: study
• University of Iowa researchers say many farming-related injuries are underreported
• Tractor simulator studies farm safety
• 100 miles from the nearest shelter: the story of domestic violence in rural Iowa
• Long after 80’s farm crisis, farm workers still take their own lives at high rate
• The Daily Yonder (article on rural domestic violence)
• Iowa study uses new tool to examine stress among women farmers
• Safely sharing the road with farm vehicles: SaferTrek Project (podcast)
• Study examines factors that influence passing farm equipment on roadways
• Rural victims of intimate partner violence need more resources and support, study finds

• Handout: Preventing rural injuries and violence: Examples of our work informing prevention in communities
• 2020 report: Policy and Program Recommendations to Reduce Overdose Deaths in Rural Iowa
• Transportation & rural road safety: A summary of our work
• Improving trauma care & saving lives in Iowa
• Agricultural safety: A summary of our work
• We partner with the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health and Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health.

• Improving agricultural injury surveillance: comparing injuries captured by Iowa’s workers’ compensation and trauma registry data
• Examining contextual differences in suicide by rural-urban designation and military status, 2009-2019: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Violent Death Reporting System
• Rural adolescent attitudes and use of helmets while riding ATVs, motorcycles and dirt bikes
• Farm Progress Show Attendees’ Use, Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Off-Road Vehicles on Public Roads
• Iowa study uses tool to examine stress among women farmers
• Highway safety behavioral strategies for rural and tribal areas (guide)
• Naloxone analogy and opioid overdose terminology preferences among rural caregivers: Differences by race 
• Rural-age friendly ecosystems for older adults: An international scoping review with recommendations to support age-friendly communities
• Organizational Resources and Social Support Influences on Stress and Depression: A Comparison among Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Farmers.
• Virtual Partnership Addressing Mental Health Crises: Mixed Methods Study of a Coresponder Program in Rural Law Enforcement
• Surgical stabilization of critical abdominal injuries in a mature rural trauma system: A retrospective study 
• Resource: Data Sources for Firearms Research 
• Farm equipment crashes on public roads: Results from a survey of Midwest farmers 
• Community engagement in the development and implementation of a rural road safety campaign: Steps and lessons learned 
• Trends in pediatric passenger restraint use by rurality and age in Iowa, 2006-2019 
• Rural youth’s exposure to firearm violence and their attitudes regarding firearm safety measures 
• Firearm exposure and storage practices in the homes of rural adolescents 
• Emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment, and healing (EmPATH) unit decreases hospital admission for patients presenting with suicidal ideation in rural America 
• Influential factors in the recovery process of burn survivors in a predominately rural state 
• Reimagining rural: Shifting paradigms about health and well-being in the rural United States 
• Farm vehicle crashes on public roads: Analysis of farm-level factors 
• Managing innovation: a qualitative study on the implementation of telehealth services in rural emergency departments 
• Influential Factors in the Recovery Process of Burn Survivors in a Predominately Rural State: A Qualitative Study 
• Association of Rural and Critical Access Hospital Status With Patient Outcomes After Emergency Department Visits Among Medicare Beneficiaries 
• Autonomous Shuttle Operating on Highways and Gravel Roads in Rural America: A Demonstration Study 
• Assessing the relationship between domestic work experience and musculoskeletal health among rural Nigerian women 
• Surgical stabilization of critical abdominal injuries in a mature rural trauma system: A retrospective study 
• Development of a Checklist to Identify Injury Hazards on Row Crop Farms in the Midwestern United States 

We include rural content in our courses at the UI College of Public Health including rural injury surveillance, motor vehicle crashes, suicide prevention, and violence prevention. Learn about our curriculum.