Rural Healthcare
In 1976 over 53 million Americans lived in roughly 900 rural counties, which together make up about 40% of the land mass of this country. These areas are characterized by low population density, a disproportionate share of the country's poor and elderly, and shortages of all kinds (Bayer, Caplan, Daniels, 1983). Most important, however, are the critical shortages of health manpower and health services delivery systems.
In 1977 rural areas averaged less than one primary care physician for every 3,500 people. According to Bayer, Caplan, and Daniels (1983), the number of physicians in rural areas decreased from 1967 to 1977, while the number of counties without functional access to primary ...
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that low incomes and high poverty rates are suffered by great amounts of the rural population, making health care insurance a relative luxury. Because of this, many ailments and injuries tend to go untreated.
Another problem is the lack of physicians willing to work in rural areas. The Hill-Burton Act of 1946 represented a major effort by the federal government to increase health resources in underserved areas. This subsidized construction program made it possible for many communities without a hospital or with inadequate facilities to obtain better health care. This had its shortcomings because hospitals without doctors were, of course, of little value. There were other approaches used during the decades since Hill-Burton to redistribute resources in favor of underserved communities. A substantial private sector initiative with funds from Sears, Roebuck made grants and loans available to help small towns attract and retain physicians (Lee, Estes, and Ramsay, 1984). The ...
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well as personal isolation are very real factors, reinforced by some extent by medical school faculty and preceptors in residency programs who caution about going to the very rural areas for fear that he or she would get out of touch with medical developments (Raffel and Raffel, 1989).
Although there are numerous problems concerning rural health care delivery, there are many innovative solutions to these problems implemented all over the country by dedicated professionals and volunteers alike.
One such solution is Project Good Health, which provides health care for children in low-income families in rural southeastern New Hampshire. In 1992, a comprehensive assessment of the health ...
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Rural Healthcare. (2008, December 8). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Rural-Healthcare/94332
"Rural Healthcare." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 8 Dec. 2008. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Rural-Healthcare/94332>
"Rural Healthcare." Essayworld.com. December 8, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Rural-Healthcare/94332.
"Rural Healthcare." Essayworld.com. December 8, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Rural-Healthcare/94332.
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