Staff Training Interests, Barriers, and Preferences in Rural and Urban Child Care Programs in Minnesota

Objectives: To describe any rural-urban differences in child care providers' (1) past training on the facilitation of child healthy eating and physical activity and (2) views relevant to the design of trainings. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2016 Healthy Start, Healthy State survey of Minnesota child care providers (rural, n = 232; urban, n = 386). Licensed family home-based care providers and providers working at licensed centers responded online or by mail to measures of desired training content, barriers, and delivery mode preferences. Results: Training barriers that were more often a concern for rural compared with urban providers included scheduling outside work hours, difficulties finding trainings, and travel (all P < .001). Rural and urban providers identified similar preferences with regard to training content and delivery. Conclusions and Implications: The findings suggest it would be worthwhile for future research to examine whether rural providers' training participation is affected by uniquely relevant participation barriers.