Kleinman: Rural and Remote Health

People living in America’s rural and remote areas outside often have different social and economic determinants of health. These areas also have generally older populations, higher levels of health risks and higher rates of disease, chronic disease, and injury. People living here generally have less access to health services with shortages of almost all health professions. Elly Kleinman, Americare Companies CEO has been looking into this topic for some time now. His research on healthcare access in rural and remote locations has in fact proven his initial thesis, that people living in these areas are generally disadvantaged in their access to healthcare services.

This article provides a profile of the characteristics and health of people living in rural America.

Living and working in a rural and remote location can be a rewarding and challenging way of life. It can be difficult for people to access help and support for l health problems for many reasons. Health services in rural and remote areas are also very different from their city counterparts. Although facilities play a vital role in the provision of integrated health services, yet they are generally smaller than those located in urban areas. Rural and remote health services are more dependent on primary health care services, particularly those provided by General Practitioners.

On average, people living in rural areas don’t always have the same opportunities for proper health as those living in big cities. That means residents of more inaccessible areas of America are generally disadvantaged in their access to products and services, employment and educational opportunities, as well as income. Still, as Kleinman further explains, rural Americans generally have higher levels of social cohesiveness, such as higher rates of participation in volunteer work and helping in their community.

According to Elly Kleinman, rural and remote services can benefit from the modern innovative technologies, and apply these approaches in the diagnosis and care of patients, and training and expanding scopes of practice for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers. Such innovations can significantly contribute towards improving the accessibility to health services and the quality of care for many rural and remote Americans.