Effects of the COVID-19 Health Emergency on the Biopsychosocial Health of Rural Residents of New Mexico Using Mixed Methods Research

The state of New Mexico and the entire nation have entered an unprecedented health emergency created by the COVID-19 virus; affecting the lives of all people, many of whom were significantly unprepared for the disruptions the emergency created in daily life. Rural residents are at increased risk from effects of the emergency due to numerous disadvantages as compared to urban living people (i.e. critical care access, food insecurity, social isolation). Very little is known about how people are living through a national emergency event affecting all people of the nation. Therefore, a significant gap in knowledge exists: 1. How are rural-living vs. urban-living people responding physically and mentally to the crisis? 2. What strategies of resilience are employed by people living in rural vs. urban counties? 3. What are perceptions of access to critical supplies and services in urban vs. rural counties; 4. How is the availability and use of technology used for news, reliable information, and communication? and 5. Use of time: what alterations in daily life self-care, care of others, commerce, and valued routines in urban vs. rural counties are occurring?