Exploring Rural Medicine


Book Description

Physicians in rural settings are often called upon to treat a wide range of problems for which they have limited training due to a lack of technological, nursing, and consultant resources. Exploring Rural Medicine serves as an indispensable reference for health practitioners who face uniquely rural concerns in health promotion, care of illnesses, and professional practice issues. Among the topics explored are high-risk obstetrics, women′s health, mental health, environmental hazards, AIDS, terminal illness, and patient education strategies. This volume also discusses professional issues such as cultural awareness, ethical problems, quality assessment, and malpractice. Written by experts in a variety of fields who have rural medical experience, Exploring Rural Medicine is essential reading for the rural physician, students considering rural practice, and mid-level rural practitioners such as nurses and physician assistants. "The topics addressed in the book reflect [the authors′] enthusiasm and experiences, ranging from the prevention of teenage pregnancy to the care of terminally ill patients with cancer. . . . The book deals with important problems and issues and is shaped by the real-world experience of the authors. . . . Rural practitioners will enjoy picking up this book and comparing their approaches and insights with those of the authors." --The New England Journal of Medicine "[Exploring Rural Medicine] has the potential to fill an important niche; support materials for the rural physician. . . . Despite its length it is an ′easy read.′ It is well written with an eveness of style and quality almost impossible to achieve with so many authors." --Michael E. Samuels, The University of South Carolina "Exploring Rural Medicine seems perfect for medical students or residents doing a rural rotation. I also recommend it to any family physician or other health professional interested in exploring rural medicine." --Christopher T. Patricoski in The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice




Exploring Rural Medicine


Book Description

This volume will serve as an indispensable reference for the rural health practitioner facing uniquely rural concerns in health promotion, patient care and professional practice.




Rural Health in the United States


Book Description

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. Sponsored by the U.S. Office of Rural Health Policy, this unique book provides the facts about this imbalance and interprets them in the context of government programs that promote the placement of doctors and the operation of hospitals in rural places while paying them less to treat Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. The authors' comprehensive analysis of rural health care delivery shows where there are differences in rates of death and disease between rural areas using maps, graphs, and plain-English descriptions. The book provides a thorough look at health care in rural America, giving a snapshot of how doctors, hospitals, and technology are unevenly distributed outside the nation's metropolitan areas.




Rural Health


Book Description

Rural Health: A Framework for Understanding the Issues and Their Impact on Rural Populations examines the factors that affect health care access and health status of individuals who live in rural areas. The text employs a unique structure called the Rural Health Framework, a methodology created by the authors during their years of teaching rural health at the undergraduate and graduate level. This framework challenges students to collect data and facts about rural areas to help them better understand rural health issues. The book emphasizes the complexity of rural health, the interprofessional nature of rural health care, and the importance of appropriate health care interventions for rural populations. The opening chapter provides readers with an overview of rural health terms and concepts. Additional chapters explore how geographic, economic, sociocultural, demographic, and support factors can impact heath status, access, and outcomes. The final chapter features an array of rural health case assessments to help students connect theory to real-world practice. Offering students an innovative and essential approach, Rural Health is an exemplary resource for courses in nursing, public health, medicine, social work, nutrition, and allied health.




Textbook of Rural Medicine


Book Description

This work provides a comprehensive review of rural medicine, including special clinical problems and approaches care, organization and management of rural health care, educational issues and lessons from abroad.




Ethical Issues in Rural Health Care


Book Description

Klugman and Dalinis initiate a much-needed conversation about the ethical and policy concerns facing health care providers in the rural United States. This volume initiates a much-needed conversation about the ethical and policy concerns facing health care providers in the rural United States. Although 21 percent of the population lives in rural areas, only 11 percent of physicians practice there. What challenges do health care workers face in remote locations? What are the differences between rural and urban health care practices? What particular ethical issues arise in treating residents of small communities? Craig M. Klugman and Pamela M. Dalinis gather philosophers, lawyers, physicians, nurses, and researchers to discuss these and other questions, offering a multidisciplinary overview of rural health care in the United States. Rural practitioners often practice within small, tight-knit communities, socializing with their patients outside the examination room. The residents are more likely to have limited finances and to lack health insurance. Physicians may have insufficient resources to treat their patients, who often have to travel great distances to see a doctor. The first part of the book analyzes the differences between rural and urban cultures and discusses the difficulties in treating patients in rural settings. The second part features the personal narratives of rural health care providers, who share their experiences and insights. The last part introduces unique ethical challenges facing rural health care providers and proposes innovative solutions to those problems. This volume is a useful resource for bioethicists, members of rural bioethics committees and networks, policy makers, teachers of health care providers, and rural practitioners themselves.




Rural Populations and Health


Book Description

Health-related disparities remain a persistent, serious problem across the nation's more than 60 million rural residents. Rural Populations and Health provides an overview of the critical issues surrounding rural health and offers a strong theoretical and evidence-based rationale for rectifying rural health disparities in the United States. This edited collection includes a comprehensive examination of myriad issues in rural health and rural health care services, as well as a road map for reducing disparities, building capacity and collaboration, and applying prevention research in rural areas. This textbook offers a review of rural health systems in Colorado, Kentucky, Alabama, and Iowa, and features contributions from key leaders in rural public health throughout the United States. Rural Populations and Health examines vital health issues such as: Health assessment Strategies for building rural coalitions Promoting rural adolescent health Rural food disparities Promoting oral health in rural areas Physical activity in rural communities Preventing farm-related injuries Addressing mental health issues Cancer prevention and control in rural communities Reducing rural tobacco use Rural Populations and Health is an important resource for students, faculty, and researchers in public health, preventive medicine, public health nursing, social work, and sociology.




Caring for the Country


Book Description

-An excellent resource for pre-med students and medical school advisors. -Possible adoptions for courses in Medical Humanities (pre-med undergraduate and medical school/graduate, first two years) and Family Practice Clerkship (medical school/graduate) -In-depth profiles reveal the everyday reality of the shortage through poignant stories and candid dialogue. -The foreword is written by Dr. Robert Taylor (Family Medicine; Fundamentals of Family Medicine)




Quality Through Collaboration


Book Description

Building on the innovative Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health offers a strategy to address the quality challenges in rural communities. Rural America is a vital, diverse component of the American community, representing nearly 20% of the population of the United States. Rural communities are heterogeneous and differ in population density, remoteness from urban areas, and the cultural norms of the regions of which they are a part. As a result, rural communities range in their demographics and environmental, economic, and social characteristics. These differences influence the magnitude and types of health problems these communities face. Quality Through Collaboration: The Future of Rural Health assesses the quality of health care in rural areas and provides a framework for core set of services and essential infrastructure to deliver those services to rural communities. The book recommends: Adopting an integrated approach to addressing both personal and population health needs Establishing a stronger health care quality improvement support structure to assist rural health systems and professionals Enhancing the human resource capacity of health care professionals in rural communities and expanding the preparedness of rural residents to actively engage in improving their health and health care Assuring that rural health care systems are financially stable Investing in an information and communications technology infrastructure It is critical that existing and new resources be deployed strategically, recognizing the need to improve both the quality of individual-level care and the health of rural communities and populations.




Achieving Rural Health Equity and Well-Being


Book Description

Rural counties make up about 80 percent of the land area of the United States, but they contain less than 20 percent of the U.S. population. The relative sparseness of the population in rural areas is one of many factors that influence the health and well-being of rural Americans. Rural areas have histories, economies, and cultures that differ from those of cities and from one rural area to another. Understanding these differences is critical to taking steps to improve health and well-being in rural areas and to reduce health disparities among rural populations. To explore the impacts of economic, demographic, and social issues in rural communities and to learn about asset-based approaches to addressing the associated challenges, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop on June 13, 2017. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.