Creating Healthcare Delivery System For Rural Communities

As populations around the world continue to grow, it becomes more evident that health services provided worldwide are not growing at the same rate and instead will continue to put further strain on existing health disparities, and create new ones. In the United States alone, access to healthcare is a crucial topic of discussion principally as the American government continues to create initiatives and legislation such as the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Although, the United States has come a long way to legally create access to care to all its citizens, there is a disparity in the number of individuals that in actuality receive healthcare due to the geography of cities and the nation.

A person’s ability to access healthcare services has a significant effect of his or her health, yet 1 in 4 Americans do not have access to primary care providers who they can receive preventive care services or regular health services (Healthy People 2020, 2014). Approximately 1 in 5 Americans (i.e. approximately 48 million in 2012, OECD, 2014) do not have medical insurance (including children and adults under the age of 65). The ability to access healthcare services is linked to social, economic and environmental factors. A lack of medical services in rural and remote areas, shortage of healthcare professionals, cost of medical coverage, lack of transportation, communication barriers, etc. all have a profound effect of a person’s ability to access healthcare services. According to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (2012), the percentage of individuals’ age under 65 without insurance decreased 0.6%, differences in rates of health insurance exists by race and ethnicity and level of education. In an attempt to improve the nation’s access to healthcare services, one provision of the Affordable Care Act implemented in 2013 provides additional Medicaid funding for states providing low cost access to preventative

All Americans do not have equal opportunities to health and the ability to make healthy choices. Barriers to health and healthier decisions are sometimes too high for individuals to overcome even with great motivation. [Roberts Wood Johnson Foundation; commission to build a healthier America 2013].1 Profound influences on health are found to occur outside of treatment facilities where majority spend most of their time. The ability to live a long healthy life is determined by various social factors such as behaviour, community/society, education, income, racial/ethnic groups, the environments where we live, learn work and play. These factors are far from random and seem to be predetermined by various factors within and around the built

AIM: How can we improve the quality of healthcare across the country, if the rural population is being left behind in resources?

Particularly a large body of documented unequal access to health care by individuals who live in rural areas (Murray et al., 2006; Probst et al., 2007; Syed et al., 2013).The main factor for the cause of this is because most farmers reside in rural areas, meaning in order for them to receive medical assistance they need to travel a long distance. An Approximate of 60 percent of farm-operator households are in rural areas, which have known as lack of physician practitioners (Jones et al., 2009b).To some from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ' Health Professional Shortage Areas, 17 percent of the farm population resides in shortage areas for primary care access (HRSA, 2014; Jones et al., 2009a).

For example if someone were to live in a rural community they’re most likely to experience a significant downgrade in health support and services. The absence of factors including health promotion and self care messages and the imperial service increases rates in: easily treatable deaths, low mental and physical health and referral to medical practitioners. Those in urban settings are more likely to have a greater access to health services and exposure to solutions to poor health via media, advertisements

I enjoyed reading your post and loved the part where you said we could empower the community and foster help seeking behaviors. I believe as we begin to understand these obstacles as social workers we can advocate for the Hispanic communities in these areas. “Many of the 61 million people who live in rural America have limited access to health care. Almost a quarter of the nation's population lives in rural places yet only an eighth of our doctors work there. “ (Rural health in the United States, 1999). There are six major ethical barriers that attribute to health care providers choosing larger cities to work in versus more rural areas in the US. “Obstacles to rural mental health services include shortages of qualified mental health professionals;

“56 per cent of rural households fall into the two lower income quintiles compared to 36 per cent of capital city households and 45 per cent of other urban households” (Faps, 2011). The cost of food in rural and remote areas is up to 10 per cent higher than those in metropolitan areas (Faps, 2011). “This gives a “double deprivation” effect, resulting from lower levels of income combined with higher basic costs” (Faps, 2011). Poor physical and mental health reflects the lower education levels and higher poverty levels in those living in rural areas (Faps, 2011). This shows that living in remote areas is a huge determinant of health.

Any area with a population of above 50,000 people is categorized as an urban area. To the disadvantage of many, nearly 60 million people in the United States live in rural areas (Census, 2010). This means that a major percentage of Americans is getting poor health services. However, there are steps that can -- and should -- be taken to improve the nation’s current health services. Rural healthcare providers must consider tackling certain factors such as the growing patient to health professional ratio, environmental conditions, and ethical and legal matters that must be executed.

Poverty in the US is an existing issue in the US with 43.1 million people living below the poverty line, reported by the Census Bureau in 2015. “Health insurance, poverty, and healthcare are all interconnected,” states Annals, this is because those living in poverty or low-income families are unable to afford health insurance. Due to this those living before the poverty line often don’t have access to primary care. Primary care is essential to good health, it provides access to physician’s care, and preventative care. Having limited access to healthcare is a main reason low-income individuals are more sick, lack of access to medical care to treat illnesses only worsens diseases that should be treated or managed early on. But it wasn’t just the uninsured suffering from limited access to health care, those

This research paper provides information about factors that need to be considered when providing health care for a rural village with limited access to medicine or doctors. This paper focuses on the income, culture, education, responses and views of the village on medicine. A rural village is generally far from cities, therefore, contact with medicine and doctors are limited. Each factor mentioned within the paper is further elaborated upon through each section.

Currently, our nation is experiencing a vast socioeconomic disparity in access to primary and preventative care. Studies have shown, “the

Hello Dr. Sanner and class. There are millions of people in the United States that live in rural areas. Some work on farms, ranches, and some are agricultural suppliers. These rural populations are more likely to be poorer, sicker, older, uninsured, and medically underserved than urban populations. With a population that is older, poorer, and with less employer-based health insurance coverage, a larger segment of the rural population is dependent upon public health care programs such as State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP), Medicare and Medicaid. The health care infrastructure in much of these rural areas consist of a lot of small hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes, and often experience significant financial stress. Many rural

Community clinical linkages (CCL) are critical approaches for improving population health in the United States. According to Starfield (1996) the “unstable coexistence between public health and medicine has not been beneficial to improving the health of the US population” (para.2). Despite the passage of the Affordable Care Act and its thrust to connect the clinical and community sectors, in 2016, these sectors continue to operate in silos. (CDC Practitioners Guide, 2016, Starfield, 1998, ACA, 2010). Were this not disturbing enough, clarity around a defined role for public health in CCL, remains undefined and unclear. Given this conundrum, one is unsure if this siloed approach continues across America, because it is comfortable, or because both the clinical and community sectors are unclear of how to move forward, in a coordinated, collaborative manner.

One might think that the United States of America would have the best healthcare system in the world; however, nothing could be farther from the truth. The U.S. is currently ranked 37th, while France is ranked number one. With the ever growing middle to poor class in the U. S. a lower socioeconomic status continues to affect ones’ health care coverage. The higher the status, the easier the access is to health care, and a better quality of care is received. Unfortunately, the lower socioeconomic class proves to have decreased access to care, poorer quality of care, and a sicker subgroup (Khan Academy, 2015). The U.S. has vast rural communities, some of which are unable to get to a health care provider or grocery store, and may have