Aging and Health Care Disparities in Rural Communities

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According to the US Census Bureau (2016), nearly 20% of the US population is living in rural communities, and the percentage of elderly population in these communities is higher compared to urban communities. Although the rate of homelessness in rural areas is lower compared to urban’s, residents living in rural communities tend to have poorer health outcomes than their urban counterparts since they are less likely to practice such health behaviors and the quality of health care there is not as high as in major cities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC, 2018).

The uneven geographic distribution of health care is one of the attributable factors of rural-urban health disparities. For instance, a previous research indicates the quality of health care services is significantly different between rural and urban areas, especially the end-of-life care, which is a key factor that leads to rural-urban health gap (Temkin-Greener, Zheng, & & Mukamel, 2012).  Additionally, a prior report by CDC’s researchers refers that residents of rural areas are at a higher risk of diseases such as heart disease, unintentional injuries, and stroke (Macarena et al., 2017). It is therefore important to alleviate the health gap that raises by disproportionate distribution of health care facilities, such as offer public health education to rural communities and improve the quality of care there. 

References

Garcia, M. C., Faul, M., Massetti, G., Thomas, C. C., Hong, Y., Bauer, U. E., & Iademarco, M. F. (2017). Reducing potentially excess deaths from the five leading causes of death in the rural United States. MMWR Surveillance Summaries, 66(2), 1.

Health Behaviors in Rural America (2018, January 10). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/ruralhealth/Health-Behaviors.html

Measuring America: Our changing landscape (2016, December 08). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2016/comm/acs-rural-urban.html?CID=acs-rural-urban 

Temkin-Greener, H., Zheng, N. T., & Mukamel, D. B. (2012). Rural–urban differences in end-of-life nursing home care: Facility and environmental factors. The Gerontologist, 52(3), 335-344.



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