Rural Americans Face The Struggle Of Accessing Healthcare

The negative impacts of limited or lack transportation services on rural population include rescheduled or missed appointments, delayed care and missed or delayed medication use (Syed, Gerber & Sharp, 2013). Mattson (2010) claimed that the delay in medical appointment for rural clients not only resulted in missing the care at the time they most need it, but it also can be more serious and costly

One area where access to care is a problem is in the rural communities. Healthcare professionals including physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses all affect the quality and cost of care (Derksen, & Whelan, 2009). Going forward importance needs to be placed on using recourses more efficiently and effectively; these resources include but are not limited to tests, prescriptions,

Transportation is one of the largest barriers to health care access in rural communities. Fortunately, many interventions

‘Some counties don't have certain types of doctors” (Leonard 2). If an individual only has one insurer that supports that area, that insurer may not cover that doctor or hospital in that area, which can result to that individual driving far out of their area, just so they can see a doctor or get their medical treatment for a reasonable price. Individuals are also being limited with options because their insurers may see them as costly, and they could force the individual to go to under resourced hospitals (Goodnough 3). This shows that even if an individual does not live in a rural area and has plenty of options to choose from, they can still be limited in location because their medical treatment can be seen as too expensive, and the insurance company has to figure out a way to save money.

The conclusion by the researchers was that death rates for VA users after the age of 65 is higher in rural communities; however, among veterans of the same socioeconomic background, rural dwelling veterans have a 15% better mortality rate than urban veterans until they reach the age of 75. This means that due to the large number of military recruits from rural and highly rural communities it is necessary for the VA to remedy their current system and to make it possible for all veterans to receive the care they need despite geographic distance.

A large number of veterans with service related injuries live in rural areas due to the fact that residents in rural

Physical accessibility is a multifaceted problem facing individuals that reside in rural communities as well as urban areas. Closely related to deficiencies in supply and demand, physical accessibility is dependent on a sufficient number of providers to provide sufficient geographic distribution in addition to the ability of individuals to travel to a provider. If a patient is required to travel long distances to seek care then it is less likely that these individuals will readily seek care.

Within the United States some populations groups face greater challenges then the general public with being able to access needed health care services in a timely fashion. These populations are at a greater risk for poor physical, psychological, and social health. The correct term would be underserved populations or medically disadvantaged. They are at a disadvantaged for many reason such as socioeconomic status, health, and geographic conditions. Within these groups are the racial and ethnic minorities, uninsured children, women, rural area residents, mentally ill, chronic illness and the disabled. These groups experience greater barriers in access to care, financing of care, and cultural acceptance. Addressing these

Veterans have a heightened need for medical and mental healthcare compared to the general population, and rural veterans have proven be in significantly more need of such care (Weeks, et

Significant health disparities between rural and urban populations have been a major concern in the United States. One prominent factor contributing to the disparities is lack of access to quality care in rural areas which is closely associated with challenges faced by rural health care providers (National Rural Health Association, 2007). Rural hospitals are the key health care provider in rural areas, offering essential health care services to nearly 54 million people (American Hospital Association, 2006). They face a series of challenges such as workforce shortages, rise in health care costs, difficulty in finding access to capital, difficulty in

Rural Americans depend on their community hospitals as critical component of the area’s economic and social material. These hospitals are usually the largest or second largest employer in the community, and often stand alone in their ability to offer highly-skilled jobs. According to, The Opportunities and Challenges for Rural Hospitals in an Era of Health Reform; “For every job in a rural community, between 0.77 and 0.3 less jobs are created in the local economy, spurred by the spending of either

Access to health care refers to the individual’s ability to obtain and use needed services (Ellis & Hartley, 2008). Access to health care affects a multitude of people. Uninsured, underinsured, elderly, lower socioeconomic class, minorities, and people that live in remote areas are at the highest risk for lack of access to health care. There are also economical and political roles that complicate access to health care. Access to health care is a multi-faceted concept involving geographic, economics, or sociocultural issues. With my extensive research on access to health care, I hope to provide influences regarding; who is affected by lack of access, geographic, economic, sociocultural access, and

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;

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.

Rural health care has many challenges. Patients in rural areas struggle with health care plans, transportation, and accessibility to doctor care. Getting emergency and specialized care can be particularly challenging. Being aware of limitations allows healthcare providers and patients to assess and plan for possible problems. Training enough staff to deal with a variety of medical situations can relieve these sparse areas. The staff should also know the resources that are in the area in order to send patients to the appropriate facilities that can care for their needs.