This study analyzed the impact of diseases of despair on mortality within Appalachia, focusing on increasing morbidity and mortality from three main causes: alcohol, prescription drug, and illegal drug overdose; suicide; and alcoholic liver disease.

The report Health Disparities in Appalachia, issued in August 2017 by ARC, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, documents dramatic disparities in health outcomes and other health-related factors in the Appalachian Region, compared with the nation as a whole. The first part of a…

Health Disparities in Appalachia is the first report in a series exploring health issues in Appalachia. The 2017 report measures population health in Appalachia and documents disparities between the Region and the nation as a whole and within the Region.