Frequently Asked Questions

Question: What are the barriers to health care access for rural women?
Answer: Problems specific to access to care for women in rural areas include:

A higher rate of uninsured and underinsured populations than in urban areas.
Higher rates of poverty in rural areas than in urban areas, particularly among women.
Access to transportation barriers, such as geographical isolation, lack of public transportation, and lack of funds for individuals to pay for their own mode of transportation. This can disproportionately affect single women with children responsible for transporting her entire family.
Lack of providers, particularly obstetric providers due to the recruitment and retention problems in rural areas in addition to malpractice suits, which make obstetric care particularly expensive and risky for providers.

Question: How can health and social services providers work together to help rural women?
Answer: The strong relationship between adequate income, sufficient food, strong social networks and good health necessitates coordination among various health care and social service agencies. This coordination is especially important in rural communities, where services and providers are limited in numbers. In many rural communities, service providers often make alliances with one another and exhibit extraordinary resourcefulness and resilience. This is also a concern for women as they are often either the sole providers for their family or in charge of accessing health and social services for their children.

Question: How do chronic diseases and cancer impact rural women?
Answer: Rural areas report higher rates of chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer, two diseases that morbidly affect women. This is due to:

A rural population that is older, poorer, and less educated than metro populations.
A lack of provider care.
More rural residents being diagnosed with cancer in later stages of the disease than urban residents, including breast and cervical cancer.
Diabetes-risk of death is more common in women ages 45-64 (CDC).

Chronic illness persists over time, requires ongoing management, and involves major lifestyle changes and adaptations in one's environment. Most recommendations of treatment are difficult because of previously discussed barriers to access in rural areas.

Question: How does mental illness impact rural women?
Answer: The prevalence of mental illness, in particular depression, in rural areas is high. Access barriers to treatment include lack of transportation and child care, poverty, and lack of health insurance. In addition, chronic depression is widespread among Americans age 65 and older. Currently, suicide is the third leading cause of death among the elderly.

Source: http://www.raconline.org/info_guides/public_health/womenshealth.php