Do you feel that shaking? That's us at the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center shivering over our computers in what is reported the worst cold front of the year. Fortunately if it get's cold enough, as KARE 11 has reported, this gives us all the opportunity to play the standing jean prank.Too bad it isn't actually cold enough in South Carolina to partake in this Minneapolis tradition. However, today's Wonderment Wednesday topic has our jeans standing up in anger over....
5 Facts About Rural Disparities
1. There Are Disparities in Education
In a study written by Janice C. Probst, PhD looked at different health disparities in terms of education, health insurance, and access to care. One of the interesting results from the study written by Janice C. Probst, PhD was the fact that minorities in rural areas had lower education levels. Interestingly, it goes into the educational disadvantages among rural African Americans. Essentially, it found that African Americans that moved from rural to urban areas are more highly educated. This meant that the population that is left over in the rural areas are less educated than their counterparts. This is important because education has direct effects on health and income level as well. Both of which in turn effects health access.
2. Rural Minorities Are Less Likely To Have Health Insurance
In the same study by Janice C. Probst, PhD it looked at the rates of insurance among rural residents. It found that African Americans (31.9%) and Hispanics (44.9%) had higher uninsurance rates than Whites (17.8%). In a study written by Saundra Glover, PhD it went deeper into the data that looked at rural minority adults and their ability to access care. When the analysis included other resource related factors such as education, income and employment, it found that these differences were insignificant. This means that minorities in rural areas suffer from a lack of resources.However, uninsurance is just one barometer of access.
3. Rural Minorities Also Were Less Likely To Use Health Care Services
Going back to the study by Janice C. Probst, PhD it also looked at whether there were any differences in going to see a health care professional as well. It found that Hispanics (37%) and African Americans (27%) vs 20% of Whites had not seen a health care professional in the past year. Once again, in Sandra Glover, PhD looked at the results when resources were taken into account. Dr. Glover found that the difference between African Americans and Whites was gone. However, Hispanics were still less likely to receive healthcare services.
4. Minorities Need To Drive More For Their Healthcare
In another study by Janice C. Probst, PhD it looked at the amount of distance needed to drive for care by minorities compared to whites. White and African Americans did not differ much in terms of travel distance. However, African Americans, on average, spent more time traveling than whites (29.1 vs. 20.6 minutes).
5. Rural Minorities Are More At Risk For Death
With so many factors working against rural minorities it comes with little surprise that rural minorities are more at risk for death. In another study written by Janice C. Probst, it looked at whether or not health outcomes were effected among rural minority populations. In the study, it found that rural African Americans and rural Hispanics were more at risk of early death compared to Whites. Like before, when resources are accounted for in the analysis, the disparities between the groups were eliminated.
In the meantime, remember to give a nice tap on that subscribe button to the very bottom or top left hand side of this page to read more about the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center.We will be taking the next few weeks off, so until next time, take care!
-Matt
References:
Probst JC, Moore CG, Glover SH, Samuels ME (2004). Person and place: the compounding effects of race/ethnicity and rurality on health. American Journal of Public Health 94(10): 1695-703.
Glover S, Moore CG, Probst JC, Samuels ME (2004). Disparities in access to care among rural minority adults. J Rural Health, 20(3):193-205.
Probst JC, Bellinger JD, Walsemann KM, Hardin J, Glover SH. Higher risk of death in rural blacks and whites than urbanites is related to lower incomes, education, and health coverage. Health Aff (Millwood).2011 Oct;30(10):1872-9
Probst JC, Laditka SB, Wang J-Y, Johnson AO. Effects of Residence and Race on Burden of Travel for Care: Cross Sectional Analysis of the 2001 US National Household Travel Survey. BMC Health Serv Res. 2007 Mar 9;7:40.
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