Rural Health: A Framework for Understanding the Issues and Their Impact on Rural Populations

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.

Rebecca W. Lewis co-teaches an online interdisciplinary rural health course for undergraduate students at East Carolina University. She holds a master's degree in public health with focus in health policy and administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's degree in nursing with an emphasis in education from East Carolina University.

Maria C. Clay is the chair of the Department of Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies in the Brody School of Medicine and director of the Office of Clinical Skills Assessment and Education at East Carolina University. She holds a master's degree in education from East Carolina University and a doctorate degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.