PURPOSE Children's health is influenced by the context in which they live. We provide a descriptive essay on the status of children in rural America to highlight features of the rural environment that may affect health. DESCRIPTION We compiled information concerning components of the rural environment that may contribute to health outcomes. Areas addressed include the economic characteristics...

The recent closure of rural health services in many developed countries has been a natural experiment as health planners strategically adopt regionalized systems of care to combat staggering healthcare system costs. Regionalization is predicated on offering health services in selected discrete locations (‘referral centers’) as opposed to in every local community of reasonable size. Where comple...

background: health care systems in rural areas face numerous challenges in meeting the community’s needs and adequate attention has not been paid to this problem. the aim of this study was to describe the outcomes of health care process in rural society. materials and methods: twenty-six participants including twenty-one rural health care providers and five clients were selected according to pu...

This article examines the approach adopted by a health service to benchmark outside the health industry and to network with its own suppliers in its quest for best practice. The Maryborough District Health Service was selected for funding under the Commonwealth Government's Best Practice in the Health Sector Program. This rural health service is setting a fine example of how generic benchmarkin...

background and purpose: equity in access to health care has become a desirable policy objective. therefore, accessibility to health care should be provided based on health needs rather than socio- demographic variables. this will lead to a better utilization of health care and improvement of equity in health. the aim of this paper is to examine the effects of family socio-economic status as an ...

Majority of the Nigerian population lives in rural area, where agriculture is the mainstay. Nigerian rural areas are the most neglected and its people, the most deprived with regard to the provision of modern health care services. Besides, they lack other basic infrastructural necessary for the maintenance and promotion of good health. The implication is that rural dwellers are subjected to hig...

Health care reform is likely to raise unique issues for rural communities and providers. This paper identifies and discusses several of these issues, with a particular focus on the potential relationship between health care reform and rural health networks. Topics addressed include the likely impact of health reform on the organization and development of rural health networks, the reimbursement...