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Nov
05
Posted by Erica Lake on November 5th, 2024
Posted in: Blog
Tags: Rural Health
What do you envision when you hear the word “rural”? Is it a specific landscape, town, or industry? What do the people look like?
Your perception likely depends on the rural areas near you, but every state has its own rural regions. This diversity makes defining “rural” challenging; in fact, the US federal government lacks a single definition. Various definitions have been developed for eligibility in programs, grants, and regulations.
The broadest definition comes from the US Census Bureau, which classifies anything not urban as rural. According to the updated 2020 Census, an urban area is defined as having at least 2,000 housing units or a population of at least 5,000. Thus, a population of 4,999 or fewer is considered rural. In practical terms, this means that about 15%-20% of Americans lived in rural areas as of the 2020 Census.
Additionally, the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire notes that rural demographics have shifted between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. While rural residents still tend to be older, younger residents are increasingly racially diverse, with nearly one-third of rural children from minority backgrounds, up from 28% in the previous census.
How does living in a rural area affect your health?
Evidence shows significant health disparities exist between rural and urban residents, influenced by demographic, environmental, economic, and social factors.
According to the CDC, these factors include an older population, higher rates of smoking and obesity, and elevated poverty levels. Rural residents often face limited broadband access and must travel long distances for routine checkups and screenings. They are also more likely to have limited access to primary care services and to be uninsured or underinsured. Addressing these challenges requires unique and innovative healthcare solutions.
The following resources can help you understand and meet the health information needs of rural communities.
NNLM Rural Health Webinar Series
NNLM is hosting a free, virtual rural health webinar series this month in recognition of National Rural Health Day on November 21st. This series is an exploration of the efforts that communities take to address the unique health needs of rural populations in the US, and aims to provide practical evidence-based solutions that support librarians, health educators, community leaders, and direct care providers to improve rural health outcomes.
The series runs from November 6-21, and includes the webinars below. Click on the links to register for each session or check out the Rural Health Webinar Series page on NNLM.gov.
Read about rural health
The NNLM Reading Club will also focus on rural health in November. The Reading Club supports your library community planning by recommending three rural health related books, materials and discussion guides for each recommended book which can be downloaded from the NNLM web site, and links to relevant NLM, NIH, and other health agency resources.
The three featured books for November are:
We invite you to learn with us this month and beyond!
ABOUT Erica Lake