Rural Health
Rural Health is important because people in rural areas lack resources, services, investments into their communities, and many other economic development challenges.
There is no one universal definition for a rural area.
Which leads to unnecessary confusion and poor data tracking for rural communities.
The Census Bureau defines rural as ‘any population, housing, or territory NOT in an urban area’ – enlightening right?
According to the USDA, 14% or 46 million US residents live in rural areas.
Rural Americans are at greater risk of death than their urban counterparts from:
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
- Unintentional Injury
- Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease
- Stroke
Risk factors playing into rural health disparities include:
- Poverty
- Food apartheid
- Banking deserts
- Environmental hazards
- Geographic Isolation
- Lower socioeconomic status
- Higher rates of health risk behaviors
- Limited access to healthcare
- Limited job opportunities
- Less likely to have employer provided health insurance
There is a huge challenge in getting health care providers in rural regions and also having public health and other social services adequately support these communities.
The National Rural Health Association states that in order to improve rural health, public health needs to:
- Modernize systems
- Standardize & streamline funding
- Build personnel and infrastructure capacity
Adults in rural areas engage in risky health behaviors more than their urban counterparts.
While children living in rural areas have greater challenges with their development, mental health and behavioral health.
Despite the challenges, many people enjoy living in rural areas where they are able to live more slowly, intentionally, and more connected to the land and their deep ancestry.
Rural communities are the ones that have been most disinvested and left out of health improvement conversations.
There is a huge opportunity to lean on rural leaders and knowledge to raise up solutions for health improvement
Despite challenges, these communities are resilient in the face of adversity and continue to thrive and persevere.
Some effective strategies that can improve health outcomes for rural communities include:
- Medicaid expansion
- Encourage physical activity by utilizing already built community assets
- Creating more jobs and economic sustainability
- Increasing access to transportation
- Increasing access to healthy and affordable foods
- Policies aimed at increasing disease prevention efforts
- Workforce development
Support The Public Health Millennial
Links and Further Readings:
- Rural Health from National Public Health Week
- About Rural Health – CDC
- What Works? Strategies to Improve Rural Health – County Health Ranking & Roadmaps
- Rural Health Disparities – Rural Health Information Hub
- Rural America at a Glance – US Department of Agriculture
- About Rural Health Care – National Rural Health Association
- What is Rural? – USDA Economic Research Service
- National Rural Health Association Policy Brief – NRHA
- Twice Invisible: Understanding Rural Native America – First Nations Development Institute
- Native Americans in Philanthropy
