OBJECTIVE To explore diabetes-related behaviours and their influencing factors among elderly individuals with pre-diabetes in rural areas of China. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A cross-sectional survey was conducted among elderly individuals (≥60 years) in rural communities in Yiyang City of China. Multistaged cluster random sampling was carried out to select 42 areas, and interviews were...

This paper explores how local actors can play a role in bridging the rural broadband divide. It presents the bottom-up development of broadband infrastructure in the rural region of ‘Sogn & Fjordane’, Norway. To bridge the broadband divide individuals, businesses and public sector in several rural communities have joined forces and have taken an initiative to develop and operate local broadband...

This article studies the causes of China’s Great Famine, during which 16.5 to 45 million individuals perished in rural areas. We document that average rural food retention during the famine was too high to generate a severe famine without rural inequality in food availability; that there was significant variance in famine mortality rates across rural regions; and that rural mortality rates were...

This paper studies the causes of China’s Great Famine, during which 16.5 to 45 million individuals perished in rural areas. We document that average rural food retention during the famine was too high to generate a severe famine without rural inequality in food availability; that there was significant variance in famine mortality rates across rural regions; and that rural mortality rates were p...

While the mentally ill are considered to be vulnerable as a group, those who are mentally ill and reside in rural communities are at a greater disadvantage due to limited access to health care, a scarcity of resources, and traditional cultural belief systems. Social support has been found to have a direct effect on the well-being of families and individuals. Specific strategies are presented wh...

This thesis seeks to make visible the presence and voices of minority ethnic households in rural communities by addressing the ‘place blindness’ in research on ethnicity / ‘race’, and the ethnicity / ‘race’ blindness in rural literature. The overall aim of this thesis is to develop an understanding of the lived experiences and perspectives of minority ethnic households and individuals in parts ...

Social Identity and Inequality: The Impact of China’s Hukou System We conduct an experimental study to investigate the causal impact of social identity on individuals’ response to economic incentives. We focus on China’s household registration (hukou) system which favors urban residents and discriminates against rural residents in resource allocation. Our results indicate that making individual...

Rural communities in the United States have diversified and their dependence on agriculture has decreased substantially. In the 1980s, rural deindustrialization occurred and rural areas continued to become more service oriented: employment opportunities declined because of shifts in the world and U.S. economies, and anti-rural public policies. In response, some rural communities have become ent...

BACKGROUND Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been reported to be common in the West. Community surveys are lacking in the African setting. We determined the prevalence of IBS in a rural community setting in Nigeria. METHOD Questionnaires were administered to consenting individuals. Subjects satisfying the Rome II criteria for IBS were invited for physical examination at a health center to id...