Rural Health Concerns

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Basics

• Summary
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• Prevention and Risk Factors

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• Related Issues

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Journal Articles

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• Seniors

Summary

People in rural areas face some different health issues than people who live in towns and cities. Getting health care can be a problem when you live in a remote area. You might not be able to get to a hospital quickly in an emergency. You also might not want to travel long distances to get routine checkups and screenings. Rural areas often have fewer doctors and dentists, and certain specialists might not be available at all.

Because it can be hard to get care, health problems in rural residents may be more serious by the time they are diagnosed. People in rural areas of the United States have higher rates of chronic disease than people in urban areas. They also have higher rates of certain types of cancer, from exposure to chemicals used in farming.

Start Here

• What Is Rural? (Rural Information Center)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Rural Wellness and Prevention (Rural Health Information Hub)

Related Issues

• Agricultural Health and Safety (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Oral Health in Rural Communities (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Trauma (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Rural Health Disparities (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Rural People with Disabilities (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Substance Abuse in Rural Areas (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Telehealth: When Technology Meets Health Care (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Violence and Abuse in Rural America (Rural Health Information Hub)

Statistics and Research

• Rural Residents Who Are Hospitalized in Rural and Urban Hospitals: United States, 2010 (National Center for Health Statistics)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: A Path to Sustain Rural Hospitals.
• Article: Association Between Loss of Hospital-Based Obstetric Services and Birth Outcomes...
• Article: Leading Change: A Case Study of the First Independent Critical-Access...
• Rural Health Concerns -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• HRSA: Find a Health Center (Health Resources and Services Administration)

Seniors

• Rural Aging (Rural Health Information Hub)
• Walking Safely in Rural Areas (National Institute on Aging) - PDF