Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of a PRECEDE model-based educational program in enhancing awareness, attitudes and preventive behaviors against diabetes complications among rural patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Design/methodology/approach: This quasi-experimental study included 160 T2DM patients from rural health centers in…

Geographical, economic, social and cultural barriers to accessing services in rural areas are widely reported. Less widely discussed are dilemmas posed by individual and community reluctance to address sensitive health issues. This article, focusing on the highly sensitive area of mental health, and employing a participatory action approach,…

Context and Purpose: Rural and suburban populations remain underserved in terms of psychiatric services but have not been compared directly in terms of using telepsychiatry. Methods: Patient demographics, reasons for consultation, diagnosis, and alternatives to telepsychiatric consultation were collected for 200 consecutive, first-time…

Context: Multiple national agencies and organizations recommend that women age 40 years and older have an annual screening mammogram. Women who are poor, less educated, lack a usual source of care, and reside in rural Appalachia are less likely to have had a recent mammogram. Purpose: To increase use of mammography among a rural Appalachian…

Nutrition and health are underlying influences to education performance. This report is a collection and analysis of data on nutrition and the rural poor in the United States. It presents an empirical assessment of critical nutritional and social-service problems experienced by the rural poor population. The first section of the report uses data…

The Geriatric Assessment Unit (GAU), which has proven successful in urban areas, may be a viable system for providing health care to the elderly in rural areas. GAUs engage in assessment, follow-up response to findings, education, and research. The assessment component includes, at minimum, physical health, functional ability in activities of…

The upward economic flux of Pike County is having a dramatic impact on the traditional morals and values held by the established community. Drug availability has increased proportionately with improved highway systems, accessibility of money, and increasing numbers of youth with their own cars. Although 75% of the population live in isolated…

An invitational conference brought experts and concerned, active individuals together to review and identify research and program needs for rural Texas health care. The goals of the conference were to prioritize the top five program and research activities for rural health care in the 1980's, to develop a network of communication and cooperation…

Issues in the development of community health education programs for rural areas include: (1) knowledge of disease processes; (2) health care intervention; (3) systems intervention; (4) ethics for change; and (5) program implementation. (JN)

THE RURAL POPULATION HAS BEEN SHIFTING TOWARD THE URBAN CENTERS OF OUR COUNTRY. SOME EVIDENCE INDICATES A REVERSAL OF THIS SITUATION IN THE NEAR FUTURE. INDUSTRY IS MOVING AWAY FROM THE CITIES TO AVOID WATER POLLUTION, TRAFFIC CONGESTION, AND HIGHER OPERATIONAL COSTS. PLANNED CITIES WHICH INCLUDE COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH PLANS ARE BEING CONSTRUCTED IN…

Health needs and health services in rural America are key issues directly related to education as well as community well-being. This report examines rural America's access to basic health care services and discusses options for congressional consideration. The focus is on trends in availability of primary and acute rural health care and on factors…

Many health and development programs have been initiated for the rural poor in the world, but few have achieved as strong an association with the cultural values of the people as has Dr. Carroll Behrhorst's work in Guatemala. The two major communication thrusts of his health programs are education of the native population, emphasizing…

This bibliography contains 352 entries related to the provision of health care services in rural areas. The entries were derived from the AGRICOLA database produced by the National Agricultural Library and include journal articles, government reports, conference papers, Congressional hearings, and books. Entries cover such topics as rural health…

The 'rural' definitions applied by the Federal Government, especially by two data-gathering agencies, the Bureau of the Census and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), emphasize different dimensions of the concept, and delineate the rural-urban continuum in different ways. This report discusses the inconsistency of curent "rural"…